In episode 4 of Digital Wave Riders, we sit down with Stephanie Morrison, CEO of Alternative Living Solutions of North Carolina to discuss her work in Affordable Housing, Home Health, and Outpatient Therapy, and other Nursing Services.
Do you or a loved one need out-patient or home healthcare assistance? Learn more about the services offered by ALSNC at https://alternativelivingsolutionsofnc.com/Home
Full Transcript.
BC Babbles (00:01.476)
All right now, welcome back to the Digital Wave Riders podcast. Today I am joined by CEO of Alternative Living Solutions of North Carolina, Ms. Stephanie Shine-Morrisen. How are you doing today, Stephanie?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (00:13.046)
Hello? I am awesome on this good Monday. How about yourself?
BC Babbles (00:17.664)
Good Monday. Got a hurricane coming in this week, so I'm hoping that we get a little bit of sunshine before that eventually hits. So, fingers crossed on that front.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (00:26.67)
I know, right? We had hours last night.
BC Babbles (00:29.812)
Oh you did? How was that?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (00:31.914)
Oh, well luckily my area didn't get torn too bad, but you know, my balcony furniture got flung in the woods. It's coming out, trees falling, but it happened two days in a row. So hopefully we don't get any more.
BC Babbles (00:38.445)
Oh yeah.
Mmm.
BC Babbles (00:46.236)
Ooh, yeah, fingers crossed. I don't know what it is about. I'm noticing like the lake, I'm over here up by Lake Norman. Somehow it like sometimes diverts the storm a little bit. I'm not sure how that works. I'm not a chemistry person, but I'm thankful for what it does, but we have gotten a couple of strong hits. So I'm just kind of like, I'm not a big storm person. So I'm trying not to freak out too much these days.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (00:54.096)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (01:09.499)
Right.
BC Babbles (01:11.124)
All right, so let's go and hop in. Stephanie, you, as I said, are the CEO of Alternative Living Solutions of North Carolina. Talk a little bit. How about your business? How did it come to be? What inspiration prompted you to develop this organization?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (01:27.046)
Okay, so I actually started off in nursing. Yeah, I know. And I've always was curious about what other way can people be helped in a community? Because I always wanted to be in the health care field. So I started off in nursing. I'm like, whoa, this is going to be too much. So, you know, it was cool. You learn the experiences and the different types of clinical services that goes on in the nursing slash medical field.
BC Babbles (01:31.124)
Mmm!
BC Babbles (01:39.36)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm
BC Babbles (01:56.225)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (01:56.618)
So I happened to see a lot of people coming in that were homeless, because I work on a dialysis unit. They didn't have a lot of resources for insurance, medications, housing, stuff like that. So I ended up, and plus, you know, my own family too. Some of them had the same issue. Some were addicted to drugs, alcohol.
BC Babbles (02:02.867)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (02:10.921)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (02:19.692)
Sure.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (02:24.534)
mental health issues, all different types of things that caused them to be in a situation they're in. So we did have case management that the social workers provided at the hospital, but it was just enough to get them, their case manager and get them out the way because they need the room. I'm like, hmm, maybe I can help people with resources. So.
BC Babbles (02:25.76)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (02:43.588)
Mmm, yeah.
BC Babbles (02:49.078)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (02:50.61)
I started off saying, how can I help people do more? So it actually started off as case management, HIV case management at that. So initially we were dealing with individuals that were HIV positive, and we provided HIV case management services, did it for like five years straight. And how I got started with it, I had an uncle, of course he was HIV positive, and we...
BC Babbles (02:55.926)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (02:59.113)
Okay.
BC Babbles (03:05.76)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (03:16.649)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (03:17.654)
to like the last stage or so like how could he been helped you know before he went away. So we connected in the community we connected with crisis, section eight housing, targeted unit housing, we connected with a lot of medical providers mainly infectious disease because that's what you'll see, primary care facilities and I would just I start off making my own flight so.
BC Babbles (03:21.376)
Hmm. Yeah.
BC Babbles (03:36.496)
Mm-hmm. Oh yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (03:45.206)
I start off making flyers, printing them and say, hey, this is what we do. This is where we're located. Well, I actually didn't even really have an office. It was a shared space with someone I knew. So they let me use like a room in their office. Started off with them, wow, I'm not getting called. I don't know what's going on. So every weekend I would just go out and put flyers, you know, the old school way, put flyers and people mail boxes. And it's like one day this call came through. I'm like, oh.
BC Babbles (03:54.898)
Okay.
BC Babbles (03:58.581)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (04:08.713)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (04:14.794)
We got a call. I'm so excited. So I remember when you guys were passing out the flyers, and I didn't want to say nothing on the porch because I had company and all that stuff. They didn't want to reveal their status. And it just went from there. And then next thing you know, they told someone else, and they told someone else. And a lot of them couldn't afford to pay out of pocket. So my next mindset was, how can I
BC Babbles (04:16.492)
Hahaha
BC Babbles (04:29.888)
Sure, yeah.
BC Babbles (04:40.652)
Hmm
Stephanie Shine Morrison (04:44.514)
get connected with health insurance, like your Medicaid, Medicare, Blue Cross, you know, stuff like that. So I had to do a little research, come to find out every insurance doesn't pay for that, but Medicaid did. And 90% of people were on Medicaid. So I ended up learning how to get a network with the Medicaid plans that were, you know, at that time it was just MEC
BC Babbles (04:47.049)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (04:50.42)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (04:57.557)
Hmm. Okay. Yeah.
BC Babbles (05:10.869)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (05:12.578)
but it was just Metlink and I got in network. It took a while, but we did it. So I had to cease seeing people until I got in network. So I just kept awaiting people. And then when we were approved to see people with Medicaid, then I picked it back up. So that's mainly how we started it. And then we eventually seeing it's more to this. I added another program, which is mental health.
BC Babbles (05:20.undefined)
Gotcha, yeah.
BC Babbles (05:27.605)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (05:31.884)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (05:35.829)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (05:39.51)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (05:41.006)
So we did the mental health counseling, well, we still do. That was maybe, like I said, between three to five years after the case management, only some, like most of them have a lot of mental health issues that they need help with, which is probably why they're in the situation they're in. So we added that program along with substance abuse. So that's all together. So now we have two programs with the family.
BC Babbles (05:57.584)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (06:02.314)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (06:08.702)
That's working out good. So the people that were in the case management program kind of getting dual services
BC Babbles (06:12.554)
Yeah.
Gotcha.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (06:17.026)
So, go on to say a couple years past and we added non-emergency medical transportation.
BC Babbles (06:19.253)
Hahaha
BC Babbles (06:25.225)
Mmm, yes, that's awesome.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (06:28.11)
Because again, you have people that they can get on the city bus, but what if they have a walker or can't walk that long or short of breath or they have children or they don't have the funds or you know, stuff like that. So we end up getting a network through, again, our Medicaid providers, grants through the county invested in vehicles. So we do non-emergency taking them to their doctor's appointment, dental appointments, picking up prescriptions, stuff like that.
BC Babbles (06:33.793)
Right. Hmm.
BC Babbles (06:40.01)
right.
BC Babbles (06:54.71)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (06:57.91)
So I'm gonna take it another notch further. Then we also, so then we also created home health.
BC Babbles (07:00.31)
HAHAHAHA
BC Babbles (07:06.632)
Yes.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (07:08.418)
So we have home health now and that's our newest program. Had the home health for two years now. And of course that's for anybody needing home health, whether it's an elderly parent, a sibling, a mother that stays at home and has a disabled child, respite care, needs sitter services. It's for all ages, all types, someone leaving outpatient surgery and may need to.
BC Babbles (07:10.508)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (07:16.373)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (07:26.483)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (07:36.581)
Mmm. Yeah. Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (07:37.39)
care for a mom that's had a baby and you know maybe dad can't stay the whole time that she's out and they need somebody out until they recover. Um stuff like that so we um I included all of those programs so if you're coming in the program it's like a one-stop shop. So you make one program and then later on down the road you may need another you know service later on down the road you may need another service.
BC Babbles (07:47.808)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (07:52.201)
Yeah.
Yeah!
BC Babbles (08:00.476)
Right.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (08:04.51)
And throughout all of that time, we've gotten a network with over not just Medicaid, we've said Medicaid, Medicare, Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare, EAP. And I don't know if people know what EAP is, but that's a employee assistance program where your job will refer you and pay so many sessions.
BC Babbles (08:12.805)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (08:18.356)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (08:23.112)
Yeah. Hmm.
BC Babbles (08:28.382)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (08:28.834)
So we were multiple EAPs, of course, self-care, self-pay, I'm sorry. And then we're also in network with the Medicaid for transportation and a one call service that's strictly workers' compensation. We do that as well. And we're also nonprofit and we became nonprofit in 2016, it's still going. And we are also accredited now.
BC Babbles (08:44.395)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (08:58.336)
as of last November.
BC Babbles (09:01.052)
Very nice. Now, as you're, there's a lot, there is a lot. So in that expansion process, what did that, what did the acclimation look like? You're adding all these new programs onto the organizations to be able to have a hand and expand into all these needed areas. But what did that look like? You know, you realize there's another area you've got to be able to be involved in, but then that's also adding this
Stephanie Shine Morrison (09:02.678)
So yeah, that's that.
BC Babbles (09:29.836)
kind of larger field into the vision of the business. So what did that, was there like an assimilation or like an acclimation process when you added those new elements in? What did that look like?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (09:41.278)
Yeah, absolutely. So for each program, you have to meet the state requirements. For your home health, you have to do the application process headache. You have to provide the policy and procedures. You pay that North Carolina state fee and then every year, you choose the counties that you want to serve. The same with the non-emergency medical. You have to have your vehicles inspected, go through the application.
BC Babbles (09:45.857)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (09:51.148)
Mm. Ha ha ha.
BC Babbles (09:56.416)
Hmm
BC Babbles (10:03.393)
Gotcha.
BC Babbles (10:08.448)
Hmm
Stephanie Shine Morrison (10:09.75)
process, get all of your driver's credential, run background checks, getting in network with the insurance, you got to keep them renewed every three years, you got to do the drug testing and when they do your audits, they want to see all of that. So it's background part is like a lot of sleepless nights, you got to get it done, you have deadlines and it's to meet the requirements, you know, your state requirements.
BC Babbles (10:12.325)
Oof. Yes.
BC Babbles (10:25.927)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (10:29.951)
Mmm, yeah.
BC Babbles (10:36.029)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (10:38.41)
You know, and you just gotta do what you gotta do to make it happen.
BC Babbles (10:41.44)
So for anyone who has yet to hear about ALSNC until now, seeing the show and they're wondering, you know, is it worth to reach out because I don't know if they service the area. So what is the expanse of ALSNC? What counties are you guys operative in?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (10:59.07)
Oh great question. So Mecklenburg County, Gaston County, Cabarrus County, Rowan County, Union County. I feel like I'm forgetting a county. I'm like yeah I believe so, Ardell. And with counseling you could be anywhere because we do virtual and
BC Babbles (11:01.844)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (11:13.577)
Iredo.
BC Babbles (11:25.703)
Mmm, okay cool.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (11:27.878)
Only thing we can't accept worldwide is Medicaid But like your blue cross your at no you're in the 90 health or self-pay They literally do your counseling anywhere and we have evening hours weekend hours Have some great therapists even some of them see him on a Sunday, even though it's virtual
BC Babbles (11:31.093)
Gotcha.
BC Babbles (11:34.848)
Hmm
BC Babbles (11:41.323)
Oof.
BC Babbles (11:47.644)
Yeah, that is so cool. The guys are so involved. That is a fantastic operation you got going. So I know you mentioned, the way you got that first call, you mentioned that was thanks to all the flyers you were doing out there. You're doing the old school marketing. So talk a little bit more about what that initial marketing path looked like. Obviously you got the print marketing that you were working and then once momentum started to become a thing for you guys.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (11:53.422)
Thank you.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (12:01.742)
Oh yeah.
BC Babbles (12:13.792)
What did the development from there look like? How did that change for you guys?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (12:20.474)
Okay, um, I still do old school mark.eting I can't help it. I still do old school marketing, but um
BC Babbles (12:26.088)
Yes. Well, talk about it. Like talk about why you love old-school marketing. What, what for you keeps you working with that, that rhythm of that, that marketing style.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (12:37.478)
Okay, for me, I like to engage in community. So, I'm born and raised in Charlotte, of course, but although we're not like a huge corporation yet, I just like people just don't know. They don't know what's out here. So if they see a face, they're like, oh, I heard of that, but I didn't know. Oh, you know, they get familiar with you. They'll open up and talk to you. Well, I know such-and-such needs, this, this or that.
BC Babbles (12:40.723)
Yes.
BC Babbles (12:44.213)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (12:49.268)
get. Love that.
BC Babbles (12:53.781)
Hmm
BC Babbles (12:58.864)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (13:06.174)
And you could say, well, here's my information, give it to them. And they'll say, can I call you? Can I do this? I do community events. I've did plenty of with the County of Mecklenburg with different sorority and fraternity groups, school colleges, high schools, some of them need services as well. And then I also use my website developer.
BC Babbles (13:08.734)
Yes.
BC Babbles (13:16.896)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (13:25.388)
Hmm
Stephanie Shine Morrison (13:34.358)
They have me a website going and it does a little marketing too online. So they help with my social media, put things on there. Cause I'm horrible with that. I'm trying to get better with social media, but it's like, I'm so big. So I'm like, Oh, I didn't post nothing. I haven't posted nothing in weeks or months. And you know,
BC Babbles (13:38.262)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (13:51.932)
Oh, I getcha. I get that so well. I do social media myself for... I have clients who I'm very, very consistent for, but I'm like, bro, you've got your own stuff that you barely do anything for. Like, you gotta find the balance, man. So...
Stephanie Shine Morrison (14:07.382)
Right. Yeah, you're right. And then the day goes like that. So you're like, I have to open in a month and it don't even seem like a month. So, you know, I let them. Oh yeah, I'm going, going. But I love working with the people out in a community because even some companies don't even know. And I've gained relationships with medical providers where now they're comfortable with sending referrals.
BC Babbles (14:09.711)
Yes!
BC Babbles (14:13.921)
Right. Especially as busy as you are, yeah!
BC Babbles (14:22.678)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (14:31.123)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (14:32.862)
And they're like, hey, I know this person. You take this. They're sending referrals to me now. And then when I'm with the insurance companies, that's another automatic referral system. When you're with certain EAP corporations, they're sending you via email, fax, or call. So they may say, hey, do you guys have any availability? You just may randomly get an email or a fax or a call. So we have referral forms that I've literally took.
BC Babbles (14:40.618)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (14:48.617)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (15:01.486)
myself to them. They'll use those forms and fax them over to me or to my office staffs and she'll handle them, call them back and make sure everything's good with you know insurance, availability and get them scheduled. So kind of both ways marketing is like non-stop. I always want to be involved so even though I have the best marketing which I you know I have Google I still have to have my hands on it.
BC Babbles (15:14.856)
Right.
BC Babbles (15:18.74)
Mmm. Yeah. 100%.
BC Babbles (15:27.339)
Mmm.
Oh, I get that. I get that so much. I love that. So taking your when you when you kind of made that shift and decided, OK, let's do a website. Obviously, I'm trusting a team to listen to you, discuss your business, understand the concept, understand the essentials, like what needs to be known and trust this group to represent you in this digital landscape.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (15:31.703)
Well.
BC Babbles (15:58.54)
What did that process look like for you? What were the initial conversations? What were the expectations? And how did that process look for you?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (16:07.182)
Oh boy, that was hard for me because I'm always in control. But I'm scared like, oh God, they're going to get it right. I hope they're putting that wrong. But they eased my mind. And we literally had a phone zoom. And they were like, so tell me about your business. What do you do? Kind of like what we're doing. And it was like, oh, I'm doing this. Then I think, second guessing myself, did I leave something out? Did I forget to tell them something? So I'm able to email them.
BC Babbles (16:16.193)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (16:19.45)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (16:27.904)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (16:36.318)
And I had one person that I'd go to, which was the beauty of it. I didn't have to be like, what's her name again? Or what's his name again? So I had that one go to person and they would do a, um, a sample. Well, they would complete it, but I was able to look at it before they even made it. And if it was something I didn't like, wanted to change, add pictures, they helped me with logos. They helped me with like everything. And I'm like,
BC Babbles (16:38.945)
Mm. Yeah!
BC Babbles (16:46.24)
kill it. Very cool.
BC Babbles (16:53.161)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (17:03.477)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (17:05.05)
Thank you because before starting out I did my own from Yahoo small business And I can't get it right to save my life like I would be on it for a month I'm like, I'm gonna change this tomorrow. I'm gonna do this tomorrow. I'm gonna do that The words are running off the screen. I'm like, no, that's not the format. I want to use. I'm like, you know what? I need help. So you got a little
BC Babbles (17:09.142)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (17:17.868)
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Stephanie Shine Morrison (17:30.774)
things out to people and let that person do what they do and that person do it because it's not you're running yourself crazy but just stay in positions and making sure it's worth your while do your research I say look at those ratings and don't be afraid to if something don't look right don't be afraid to correct anybody and it's not being miss that it's your brand and you want it right
BC Babbles (17:38.315)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (17:46.951)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (17:54.471)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (17:58.423)
exactly. So that incorporation of you was really kind of your quintessential element to really finding your self-advice with this process.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (18:05.687)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm, absolutely. And it's, and I'm still at, like, you can still change things. You know, like I added my programs, I contact them, like, uh, can y'all add two more pages? I'm like, oh, what did you do now? They got so used to me, they be like, I'll change it. I got you. I'm like, take this off, I'm adding this. Take this off, we're doing this. They were like, oh boy.
BC Babbles (18:11.22)
So...
BC Babbles (18:26.22)
That's so good!
BC Babbles (18:33.394)
You sound like a very fun client, so I'm not surprised that they enjoy working with you. But since the launch, how have you seen things change? What avenues has having that go-to space in the digital world unlocked for you as an organization?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (18:40.337)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (18:53.022)
Oh, speaking of that, I literally just got a referral through the website. Just right before I came here. Yeah, it's a tool on my page where someone's looking for services. They can email you and it goes through your email with the phone number, email, all the good info. I'm like, hmm. So I had to send it to my office. I'm like, I can't call her now. I got to do this. I got to learn to take my hands off of that. So it worked.
BC Babbles (18:59.717)
Oh cool!
BC Babbles (19:07.058)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (19:18.575)
Ha ha.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (19:19.794)
out really well because they can contact me through my website and this is the beauty I love about it. I'm able to send out reviews from my
BC Babbles (19:24.777)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (19:31.081)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (19:32.606)
somebody get services or they even been in services for a while, I could just put their phone number in and then send the review and they can do it on Google or the social media page. And then it'll say, hey, you have a new review. And you're like, oh, I got a review. So I try to send those out weekly. And it's just a simple matter. And it's an app on your phone that they give you that's included. And you can just put numbers in and it'll send it a link to their text message and they click it and leave a review.
BC Babbles (19:41.513)
Mmm. Beautiful.
BC Babbles (19:52.693)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (20:02.572)
Gotcha, that's so incredible. So, from here, seeing how everything has kind of progressed up to this point with the evolution of your presence, how you interact with people, how you've been able to expand and incorporate new programs, do you have any, at the moment, any upcoming new plans, anything on the horizon for ALSNC that you would like to share through?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (20:02.978)
So yeah, it works out.
BC Babbles (20:30.642)
The show or things that you have to hold off on and like surprise people with later
Stephanie Shine Morrison (20:35.67)
Well, I'm always surprising, but we do, I forgot to mention that we do a lot of community involvement. So we do like back to school giveaways. Like now I have boxes of boot bags in my office just sitting there and we'll stuff them with supplies. So even if they don't need it at the beginning of the year, they could need a little summer school camps or whatever we have it for them.
BC Babbles (20:38.304)
hahahaha
BC Babbles (20:44.157)
Mm.
BC Babbles (20:56.748)
Hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (21:02.378)
We try to collect or get donations through food line just gifted us $500 gift cards. And we give them to people who are new moves, elderly people who don't receive enough, take your gift card, get food, toiletries, whatever they may need. And we're also partnered with another housing company called the targeted unit housing. So that's a Ford. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to say apartment living. Cause when I say housing, people think it's an actual house, but it's apartment.
BC Babbles (21:08.009)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (21:23.894)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (21:30.377)
Mm. Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (21:32.258)
And it's based on your income. And if you have SSI or SSDI, and it's another program they have, if you make $300 minimum a month, then you could qualify for the program. And we've helped this year alone. We've helped, jeez, let me see, maybe over 200 people get housing, affordable apartments.
BC Babbles (21:46.482)
Okay.
BC Babbles (22:00.16)
Congratulations! That's so cool!
Stephanie Shine Morrison (22:02.126)
So it's based off of their income. So if they're only making $6.75 a month and they're getting an affordable house, their rent will be, it's a calculation. The last person I got placed in affordable living is paying $10 a month.
BC Babbles (22:18.752)
Wow. Wow!
Stephanie Shine Morrison (22:20.246)
Grand New apartment, no one ever lived there. So we, and year round, we're always accepting donations for deodorant, washing powder, washcloths, you know, household items, because when we have new moves, a lot of them are coming from the shelter, the streets, or another family member's home, and they just don't have it to, you know, move. So we're always accepting donations year round.
BC Babbles (22:27.316)
is incredible.
BC Babbles (22:31.785)
Mmm.
BC Babbles (22:38.524)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (22:44.03)
Right.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (22:50.606)
to help with the new move, even comforters and fitted sheets and stuff like that. And it's for all, like we've helped people from youngest 21 to 90. So yeah, and it's not just getting, putting them anywhere. They're really nice. The new ones that's coming up, nice area, nice apartment living, it's not just going up anywhere. And...
BC Babbles (23:03.868)
Ooh, wow. That is so good.
BC Babbles (23:14.348)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (23:18.002)
So we are, and we also partner with the, wherever they get placed housing at, we make sure they're in our program so they can sustain their housing. And they won't. We get familiar with the, you know, clubhouse people, people who work at the maintenance area, the clubhouse people, all that. So they'll know, is somebody here for them? Because we've had people get put out because of mental issues.
BC Babbles (23:27.848)
Hmm. Oh, very cool.
BC Babbles (23:43.348)
Hmm. Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (23:44.558)
something so small and it could have been handled, but they didn't have anyone to have their back to help them. So now they know the contact does, if something going wrong, or if they're not getting their bills or utilities, they'll say, such and such didn't pay rent. Do you know what's going on with them? And then we'll be like, hey, what's going on? Then we try to find resources or whatever's going on, we're going to make sure it don't happen again, because we don't want them to go back. So yeah. So we're...
BC Babbles (23:50.377)
Right.
BC Babbles (23:54.176)
Hmm, absolutely.
BC Babbles (24:01.97)
Right.
BC Babbles (24:08.804)
Yeah, that is amazing. So what I love about you so far, sorry, go ahead, go ahead.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (24:16.096)
Oh, go ahead.
BC Babbles (24:17.384)
I was going to say what I love about you so far is not only how you've chosen to position yourself in the front line of all these necessary medical and health needs for people who don't otherwise have those resources, but also I love how when you started out, you let how you prefer and how you love to involve yourself with people guide how you went about building those initial reports.
So what I'd love to know from your perspective, for anyone else who's looking to develop an organization either in the same sphere as ALSNC or within any other kind of medical health sphere, what would your suggestions or insights be on what the groundwork for them should look like?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (25:09.814)
First, do what you love, do what's in your heart. Don't let failure scare you. And what I mean by that, just because it's not working out in a year or two doesn't mean it's not working out. I think that makes sense. Be disciplined more than anything, because some days you don't have a motivation. Some days you're like, you know what? Not today. I'm just not feeling it today.
BC Babbles (25:11.413)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (25:28.62)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (25:38.546)
I don't wanna do this. I don't know what makes me think it is. This is, mm-mm, nope. You know, that's just like working out. You have a goal to reach, you know. All the days you don't wanna do it, that's when you need to do it. Get up and do it. You don't get no sick days off. You don't get to punk out. You don't get to cry and pout. You don't get to make excuses. You are responsible. And then as you grow,
BC Babbles (25:40.285)
Yes.
BC Babbles (25:47.468)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (25:51.723)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (25:55.285)
Right.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (26:08.246)
You're responsible for others. And they're depending on you. So you don't get to cry like a little girl, a little baby. I can't do it. You can you can do it. It's the positivity. It's your mindset that you have to withhold like every day is a good day. Even on a bad day. It's a good day. A good day and I had a lot of bad days. I just want to throw my hands up.
BC Babbles (26:09.836)
Hmm
BC Babbles (26:24.554)
Hmm
BC Babbles (26:30.844)
Yes.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (26:35.882)
And I have, I've cried. I'm like, can't do it no more. I just can't do it. It got hard. But you know what? After I cried, I looked at myself like, are you kidding me, man? Please, and I don't get back to working like this. I'm like, mm-hmm, I got this. Yep, hello, Ella. You know, I'm like, bro, I'm just having one of them days where I don't wanna do it anymore. But then, it's okay to take that seat back and rest and just think. Because when I'm not doing something, I feel like I need to be doing something.
BC Babbles (26:45.58)
Hahaha
BC Babbles (26:50.725)
Yes.
BC Babbles (27:05.007)
Mmm, yes.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (27:05.938)
I know I know, but don't deny yourself rest. Don't deny yourself that peace of mind. And I always say, find your outlet, like walking is mine. Whether you do it before or after your day in or in the middle or whenever, walk, meditate, just know it'll be fine. I get a lot of no's, a lot of them. A lot of no's, but guess what? All you need is one yes. That's it.
BC Babbles (27:09.221)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (27:20.undefined)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (27:28.908)
Hmm.
BC Babbles (27:34.12)
Yes.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (27:35.586)
So, you know, I go to stores and ask them, can I put, you know, how, if you go to a store, they're like, would you like to donate to the, you know, juvenile diabetes or whatever? And I'm like, I'm trying to do that. Every store and I told me, nope, nope. You got to go to corporate. Nope, nope, nope. I'm still trying. So it's all good though. And don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to mess up. Don't be afraid to not know.
BC Babbles (27:45.653)
Mm.
BC Babbles (27:54.472)
Yes.
BC Babbles (28:01.574)
Mmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (28:03.778)
Don't be afraid to network. Don't be afraid to go outside the box. Don't be afraid to do anything. Just be brave, be bold, and most of all, don't get complacent. Don't get comfortable. Because even though I have all these programs, I still feel like I have so much more to do. I do.
BC Babbles (28:22.092)
Mmm. Yes.
BC Babbles (28:30.593)
Hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (28:32.994)
Cause one of my main goals and I'll share it. I don't know when it's going to happen. I'm working on it. It's going to happen. I just don't know when. Look back at this record, like she said that. But I do plan on creating affordable or temporary housing until people are placed in affordable. So, cause sometimes people have to wait and you just don't know when their name is going to come up. So.
BC Babbles (28:38.029)
Mm-hmm. Mm, I love that.
BC Babbles (28:44.638)
Ha ha!
BC Babbles (28:54.479)
Okay, cool.
BC Babbles (29:00.25)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (29:01.63)
My goal is to create this residential unit, temporary, short term, until they're placed in housing. And while they're in there, they're going to get in this program, that program, and we're going to make it flow. So it'll be for all ages, like little cottages or whatever. That's my main goal. And I want to keep that going. That'll be my last program. But you know, I'm in the research phase and the root.
BC Babbles (29:13.727)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (29:22.892)
Cool.
BC Babbles (29:28.875)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (29:29.982)
regulations of North Carolina laws, blah, and all of this stuff. So, um, yeah, my, my newly nose. So, and I want to continue to use my nonprofit to get back to the community and raise money for, um, the uninsured. So if they're needing home health or, um, counseling or both.
BC Babbles (29:34.184)
Hehehehehe
BC Babbles (29:44.457)
Mmm, yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (29:55.142)
I was doing a dollar a day campaign, a dollar a day to help anybody with once a week counseling or something like that, which it does. We'll just, believe it or not, we got singers, why you don't get Medicaid? I make a dollar too much. You know, yeah, too much so they can't get it. And you know, some, they can't afford the affordable rates. They're already, you know, barely paying their rent and other stuff and stuff. So, you know, I'm doing that a dollar a day.
BC Babbles (30:01.909)
Right.
BC Babbles (30:10.494)
Yeah.
BC Babbles (30:18.665)
Yeah.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (30:25.358)
It'll help with anything. So I run that all year long.
BC Babbles (30:28.936)
Very cool. Well, Stephanie, how can people find ALS&C alternative living of North Carolina, solutions of North Carolina, sorry. How can people find it? Where should they look for you guys?
Stephanie Shine Morrison (30:30.446)
So far, man.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (30:42.114)
Okay, so on Facebook we are let me get the right name for you Face book is
BC Babbles (30:45.093)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (30:57.522)
It's Alternative Living Solutions, Inc. And it's a great picture of our building. That's the profile picture. I don't know if you can see it, but it'll look like this.
BC Babbles (31:01.065)
Mm-hmm.
BC Babbles (31:04.396)
Coolio.
BC Babbles (31:11.744)
Gachi, I see it. Very cool.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (31:14.57)
Okay, so that's the Facebook page. Then we have our Instagram again, we'll post this but I want to say it's ALS16.
BC Babbles (31:17.088)
Cool?
BC Babbles (31:22.4)
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (31:31.97)
like that. Yeah and I chose ALS 16 that's the year we became nonprofit. So and then on our website it's alternative living solutions of NC.com
BC Babbles (31:32.908)
Gotcha.
BC Babbles (31:39.264)
Very cool.
BC Babbles (31:51.376)
All right. Well, thank you again so much for joining me this afternoon, Stephanie. This has been a great convo and I cannot wait to share your business with the audience on Digital Wave Writers.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (32:04.647)
Awesome. Thank you for inviting. It was a pleasure and I really appreciate it.
BC Babbles (32:08.54)
Alrighty.
Same as, I appreciate it as well. Thank you so much and hope you have a great day.
Stephanie Shine Morrison (32:15.314)
All right, thank you, take care.
BC Babbles (32:17.177)
You too. Bye.
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