Shows
You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast283. Watch Your Mouth with Derrick SierIn this powerful conversation, Zach sits down with his friend Derek Sire from Restore OKC to talk honestly about race, culture, and mentoring across differences. They unpack how easy it is for mentors (especially white mentors) to step into a kid’s world with good intentions but harmful assumptions—about their neighborhood, their family, their faith, or their “potential.”Derek explains what it means to be an asset-based organization—seeing the gifts, skills, and strengths already present in a community rather than arriving as rescuers with outside solutions. Together, he and Zach name the subtle “savior” mindset that can creep...
2025-12-1149 min
You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast281. White Mentor / Black Kid With Derrick Sier of Reverb MentoringIn this episode, guest host Derrick Sier from Reverb Mentoring joins us for an honest conversation about the challenges and growth that can come from interracial mentoring. Together, we explore how differences in upbringing, culture, and lived experience can shape relationships, and how humility and listening open doors for deeper understanding. Through a Christ-centered lens, we discuss how mentors can create safe, compassionate spaces where every young person feels seen, valued, and supported. --https://www.reverbmentoring.com/https://www.restoreokc.org/--If this podcast has encouraged or equipped you, would y...
2025-11-1351 min
In The Name of ServiceEpisode 8 Jon Dodson CEO of Pivot Project DevelopmentWelcome to episode 8 of the In the Name of Service Podcast. Today’s interview is with Jon Dodson. Jon is the CEO of Pivot Project Development, a company whose purpose is to develop beautiful projects that promote human flourishing, create shared value for their stakeholders, and have an enduring impact on their communities.I had the great opportunity to grow up with Jon in Stillwater, Oklahoma. From the time I met him in 6th grade, he has stood out for being radically kind, thoughtful, brave, and generous. As a young man, he set an example of loving th...
2023-03-0745 min
This Week in the Way of JesusPentecost: What is God up to in your neighborhood?This week in the way of Jesus, and here in the week following Pentecost Sunday, Pastor Banning has a conversation with Caylee Dodson, director of RestoreOKC, about the work they're doing in partnership with God on the Eastside of Oklahoma City. Our practice this week is to look for what God is up to in your neighborhood.
Let us enter into this practice, together, as we live the way of Jesus.
Show Notes:
www.restoreokc.org
Instagram: @restore.okc
For more information about the 8th Street church, visit www.8t...
2022-06-0632 min
The TSET Better Health Podcast#16: Food Equity: Grocery Stores and Double Up OklahomaJoin the Better Health podcast team and special guests for a discussion on systemic causes and effects of poor nutrition in Oklahoma and some partnerships that are addressing it. Marc Jones, CEO of Homeland Acquisition Corporation, and Richard Comeau with Hunger Free Oklahoma break down the realities of food insecurity and what the Double Up Oklahoma program is doing to help. Jonathan Veal with RestoreOKC introduces listeners to a new grocery store in northeast Oklahoma City, Market at Eastpoint, and the importance of providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables to this food desert. Tune in to find out...
2021-06-3028 min
RestoreOKC Q&A PodcastIs Anyone Doing Anything?Ernest talks with Darron Lamkin, founder of Class Matters, about how to make significant community impact through mentoring. Listen as they discuss the highs and lows of mentoring and give practical advice for impacting your own community.
Learn more about Class Matters at http://class-matters.org/
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-11-1800 minRestoreOKC Q&A Podcast#JusticeForJulius?This week, Ernest talks with Cece Jones-Davis about leading the Justice For Julius campaign—a grassroots initiative to save an innocent man from Oklahoma's death row.
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-10-2700 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastLive from The Market @EastPoint ribbon-cutting! What does this mean for the community?This is a special episode recorded live at the ribbon-cutting for a brand new grocery store in NorthEast OKC, The Market @EastPoint. The Market @EastPoint is a private/public partnership and RestoreOKC's newest initiative to provide healthy food options to the community.
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-10-0600 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastWho is Jabee?Ernest sits down with musical artist, entrepreneur, and community activist, Jabee, to talk about growing up in Northeast OKC! Hear about the past, present, and future of this community and some exciting news about The Market at EastPoint and how you can be a part of the food justice movement!
Jabee's website: https://www.mynameisjabee.com/
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-09-2845 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastCan We Eat Good?Ernest sits down with Apollo Woods, founder of OKC Black Eats, to address the prevalence of food deserts in Black communities. You will also hear from three of RestoreOKC's youth interns who are working to solve the food desert problem in their own community. And Ernest has a special announcement concerning the RestoreOKC's internship program.
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-09-2340 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastNew Day, Same Headline... What Now?Ernest sits down with Nathan Williams, pastor of Church Ablaze, to discuss how the Church should continually pursue the work of justice as national civility declines by the day.
Church Ablaze: http://www.churchablaze.tv/
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-09-0956 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastWhy Urban Farming?Caylee and Ernest sit down with the industrious team of Restore Farms—Ann and Vanita. In this lively conversation, you will hear the story of OKC's first urban farm. Learn about Restore Farms' community shaping initiatives, including its life-changing internship program that employs young people to end the food desert in their own community.
Resource: Black Food Geographies https://uncpress.org/book/9781469651507/black-food-geographies/
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang=en
2020-08-2540 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastWhat Does it Mean to be Black?In this episode Marcus "Kadence" Jackson, music artist and director of The Bridge Impact Youth Center, joins Ernest to discuss what it means to be Black, and how to have conversations about race in America that bring us together rather than pull us apart.
Book Suggestion - Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Website and Socials:
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https://twitter.com/restoreokc?lang...
2020-08-0453 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastGeorge Floyd: Victim or Victor?Jonathan Veal—childhood friend of George Floyd and Director of Jobs at RestoreOKC—sits down with Ernest to discuss the life and legacy of his friend.
Resources:
The Color of Law (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (https://fee.org/resources/narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass-an-american-slave/?gclid=CjwKCAjwmf_4BRABEiwAGhDfSbO1MmHlry72Js1HqNaCrVdlChWa1znpa-jrYOYMKK3ACe9lSXf3YxoCa2sQAvD_BwE)
Christian Community Development Association (https://ccda.org/)
Support this podcast or ask your questions at https://www.restoreokc.org/
2020-07-2841 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastShould Christians Support Black Lives Matter?Caylee and Ernest tackle a hot button question with grace and nuance, and they also demonstrate how to engage polarizing issues with humility and curiosity.
Resources:
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/7753/the-fire-next-time-by-james-baldwin/)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/46131/invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison/)
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/780-freedom-is-a-constant-struggle)
Pod Save the People podcast (https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-people/)
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
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2020-06-3044 minRestoreOKC Q&A PodcastWhat, Why, and How RestoreOKC?Ernest and Caylee answer what RestoreOKC is and why it exists. Listen to the incredible story of this organization's founding, as it demonstrates the power of asking good questions and a community's ability to restore itself from within.
Book Suggestions:
The New Jim Crow: https://newjimcrow.com/
Waking Up White: https://debbyirving.com/the-book/
Ghettoside: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/100077/ghettoside-by-jill-leovy/
Website and Socials:
https://www.restoreokc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOklahomaCity/
https://www.instagram.com/restore.okc/
https...
2020-06-2439 min
Live Your PurposeErnest Odunze - Restoring CommunityMy guest is Ernest Odunze Jr., the Director of Restore OKC. He was born and raised in Oklahoma City and has been known to say ‘one day his bones will be covered in red clay.’ He received his B.A. from the University of Central Oklahoma and plans to pursue a Masters in Divinity soon.
After poor life choices led to a felony, Ernest was mentored and began serving in a small local church plant where he met his now-wife and best friend Moneek. Married in 2011, the Odunze’s have 2 sons and a daughter on the way. They ha...
2020-04-0147 min