Welcome to Good News York sponsored by ads on
the go get ads on the go com Mike brindisi flying
solo today Matt is out collecting Goose droppings.
He's got some weird study going on. We won't
I'm not gonna question it, but I'm here with
a very special guest Mr. Mike or Michael Gilbert
Michael Gilbert you are here on Good News York
For a couple reasons obviously the main reason
is the Inner Harbor 5k, which we're promoting
you're looking for volunteers and runners So
we're gonna get into that but also you have a
very very interesting background that tickles
my fancy because I'm a very big advocate for
mental health I've had my own personal struggles,
and I have known family and friends that have
so I love your background You worked in human
services for 30 years, including foster care,
group home, hospital settings. In addition, you've
worked as a school psychologist in the Syracuse
City School District, as well as an adjunct professor
at local colleges. And in 2000, you founded the
It's About Childhood and Family Incorporated,
which is a non -for -profit. To me, that is...
More impressive than than any title there could
be because I you know I don't know if I believe
in a God or what but Anyone who is out there
helping people in the mental health realm is
is just like doing God's work You know, it's
it's so important. So I admire that so much.
Welcome to the show Yeah, so let's talk about
a little bit about that in the background. How
did you? Start getting involved in mental health
and kind of going that direction Well, yeah An
undergrad, I had no idea what I wanted to do,
as most kids don't. I was there, the college
experience. Then once you graduate, you realize,
figure out a job, like how am I gonna make a
living? So one of my first jobs was working down
in the Binghamton area. I was working in a group
home with kids who had been abused or neglected
and I was spending a shift. an eight hour shift
sometimes, the evening shift, sometimes the morning
shift, didn't matter. So I really got kind of
thrown into that world that I really had no understanding
of until that point. You read stuff in your classwork,
but my undergraduate degree didn't really prepare
me for that. The real work is always doing it.
And certainly, just coming out of college, I
was working in a couple jobs. So I was working
there, and then I was working in an alcohol drug
crisis center, which was another eye -opening
experience. So that kind of got me into the field,
especially working with younger kids and trying
to understand their story. How did they get to
the point? Because here they were, they were
being put in a group home and often had very
challenging behaviors, but trying to understand
what what led to that. It's not that there's
something wrong with them, it's what happened.
And I know you've probably heard that in a lot
of the trauma work that people talk about. But
at that point in my life, I didn't have that
understanding. I just knew that there must have
been something going on that led these kids in
a situation where they were not leaving RuPaul
away from family. And so that really kind of
you know, got me really interested in learning
more and understanding and seeing, you know,
what I could bring to their situation that might
bring, you know, some hope. And so from there,
you know, I worked at the Hillside Children's
Center and their foster care program. I worked
at the old Benjamin Russ Center, which was a
psychiatric center when they opened up their
new children's unit. And so, you know, I was
doing quite a lot of different things. That's
when I moved back to Syracuse, but then realizing
I really had to get more education, you know,
in terms of, you know, wanting to do more. So
that's when I went back to school. Finally, this
was back in the 90s, went back and got my master's
and ended up staying to get my doctorate, which
I hadn't necessarily planned on doing. But then,
you know, coming back to Syracuse, you know,
having that, also that experience and learning
more. and then being able to apply that to what
I'd already experienced. So when I went back
to college, not to ramble on, because I had five,
six years of experience under my belt, graduate
studies wasn't really that difficult for me,
because I'd already experienced it. And I'm in
classes with kids who are just coming from undergraduates.
I never really experienced what the real world
has to deal with. me a better perspective to
apply now what I'm learning in classes to what
I've already experienced. And so when I finished
that and came back to Syracuse, I felt I was
just in a much better place to really make a
difference, I felt. And so that's when I started
working in the Syracuse City School District.
I've been there almost 30 years now, so I got
a couple more. before I think about retirement
from that job, although I'll probably stay connected
in some way. And then in 2000, that's when I
founded the small nonprofit, it's about child
and family. And that was really a way for me
to try to fill some gaps in what was going. Back
then, there was really, especially in some of
the rural counties, there was such a lack of
services, of providers, of any kind of programming.
especially for kids. So, it's been a wonderful
experience. I mean, the people that I've met
and worked with and have come to know and become
friends with has just been a privilege. That's
amazing. You know, you said a couple things.
First of all, I love that you said one of the
first things that caught your attention within
working in that field with the children is Where
did it start? You know, there's nothing wrong
with them, because there is such a, especially
back then, such a stigma with anxiety, depression,
ADHD, whatever mental illness you're affected
by that, oh, there's something wrong with me.
It's very easy to feel that way. And especially
back then, like you said, with the lack of resources.
But it's, you know, I had a pretty severe childhood,
traumatic experience as a child. And when I first
started, Going to therapy. I didn't I didn't
want to go because my parents would say I think
you need to go and talk about it And I would
say but I'm over that yeah, that's not what's
wrong I want to know why I feel like I'm I'm
sick all the time fast forward come to find out
of course it all stems from that so I just I
think it's very important that you said that
and I really really appreciate that and Also,
I love that you went back to school because I
I too went back to school later in life And I
was able to apply things that I had already learned
in the field with the same, with kids that were
undergrad, that I was learning from them as well.
But you bring so much to the table, you don't
realize it until you're there that like, wow,
you know, the real school is out in the real
world. And so it goes hand in hand. So I just,
I really, really respect that. So it's all about
child and family. Let's talk about that. What
exactly does the organization stand for? What
does it do? Well, it certainly has gone through
a number of reincarnations, especially after
COVID. So a lot of things that we do include
educational kind of components. So we do workshops.
We used to do one or two conferences a year.
which we haven't done in a few years after COVID
but you know we're looking at doing something
in 2026 and maybe partnering with some local
groups to do that so we used to bring in you
know experts from all over the country to talk
about you know trauma and mental health and wellness
and social emotional learning that kind of stuff
and so really trying to you know provide that
aspect of understanding as you're talking about
in terms of you know it's not something that
I I did. I'm not, you know, responsible for this.
It's just something that is part of my story
and my life. And we all have a story. We all
have gone, you know, through our difficult times.
And so you're not alone. So trying to bring that
educational component to not only the professionals,
but we would also, you know, bring parents to
those conferences as well to to provide them
with some education. We do. really, you know,
my philosophy is really about the holistic approach.
So, you know, not everybody's going to respond
well to just a talk therapy type format. So,
you know, allowing them a variety of modalities.
So part of it might be talk therapy, but part
of it might be, you know, maybe try yoga or some
expressive arts. One of the things that we know
about trauma is that sometimes it kind of lives
within us. We've even seen that within our DNA
that sometimes it gets encoded there and then
is expressed when the situations are right. And
so sometimes just talking about it is not enough.
Sometimes you have to get it out physically as
well. So it could be being more physically active,
going for walks. It could be, like I said, yoga,
doing mindfulness. We encourage a lot of expressive
arts, like through music, dance, poetry, painting,
you know, whatever me, you know, might be. You
know, our thought is that we want people to explore
those things because they may have a passion
for something they never knew. Right. A lot of
kids and families that I talk to, especially
that are dealing with extreme poverty or have
had a history of trauma. They don't really think
about dreams and goals. I mean, they're just
trying to get through the day. Just trying to
survive. Just trying to survive. 100%. So, you
know, trying to open them up to the idea that,
you know, there are things out there that they
might have a passion for that they don't even
know. They might have a talent that they don't
even recognize and try to at least expose them
to a variety of things and give them some, you
know, some control over what they want to do.
Absolutely. Instead of telling them you have
to do this, you know, X, Y or Z. here are some
things you might try. What feels right for you?
And maybe you try a half dozen things before
you find out what really works for you. I know
like Safe Space, they do some great work and
I love their model because it's like peer to
peer. It's not necessarily professionals telling
you what you need to do. It's people who have
lived it and can speak from their own experience
and have those conversations. person -to -person
but I love those kind of opportunities for people
because the other difficult thing is especially
if depending on what insurance you have may not
have you know opportunities like it I work in
the school system and we we bring in therapists
from outside but that's your choice like if you
want to see this therapist that's the only choice
you have right where you have people who have
more means who can I don't want to say shop around
but they can try out a few different places to
make sure it's a good fit. That's right. Because
one of the most important things we know about
therapy is you've got to have a good fit with
the therapist. You're nailing it, man. And as
you should, you're obviously a professional in
the business. But I have preached that for so
long. It's like going to the gym. Back in the
80s and 90s, first of all, there was more of
a stigma, and there weren't as many resources.
going to a therapist was kind of embarrassing
for some people. Fast forward, the stigma starts
kind of going away, but now there's insurances
involved, and I've had personal experiences and
friends and family who now are afraid to go,
but they're willing to go, but they have to jump
through the hoops of insurance companies and
this and that. And so, the next level of that
is, okay, now you get into a therapist, You're
about half a session in. Maybe you're a full
session in and you're going, I'm not vibing here.
But people aren't going to go back and go through
that whole process again. And the reason I'm
laying all that out is because you're right.
Not every therapist is for everybody. There's
different styles. And if you're not getting what
you need out of the therapy, it's a waste of
time for you and your therapist. But people had
a hard enough time getting into it. Now it's
like, how do I change? But it's so important.
You have to kind of go with who you're comfortable
with. And I also love that you talked about the
talk therapy thing, which, you know, talk therapy
is great. But I've always agreed with you in
that it's good in addition with whatever that
with is. Maybe it's medication for some people.
Maybe maybe it's physical activity, finding a
passion. I just think that talk therapy is great.
in its own right, but adding another layer to
that is so important. And the physical part is
true. I've tried craniosacral therapy, I've had
some success with that. You hear about EMDR now.
There's all sorts of different things out there.
Right. What is the biggest shift that you've
seen as a mental health professional in the mental
health field? Well, I think part of it is that
You know that trauma -informed piece which In
some instances now has become like a buzzword
and you know people talk about trauma -informed
But they're not really right, you know, they're
not really I mean, they're trauma aware, but
they're really not trauma -informed I mean, that's
something that I I you know challenge our school
district a lot with like, you know, we're trauma
where but we haven't gotten to the place where
we were changing policies and stuff that really
would make us trauma -informed. It's a really
different level. But I think certainly we've
seen growth in that area. We've seen, I think,
growth in those other modalities as adjuncts
to counseling, like talk therapy, which I think
has been great. And I think just people more
willing to talk about it, just being vulnerable
with each other. And even with the talk therapy,
even talking to some people who have their faith,
might talk to a clergy member or somebody, you
may have somebody in your life that you can confide
in. So even the talking part doesn't always have
to be with a trained professional. It's a matter
of learning to be able to to kind of communicate
your feelings and your needs and being comfortable
doing that and being open to feedback and stuff
like that. So just, I think those are big shifts.
And then also I think, like along with the whole
awareness is just, I think understanding that
we all, like I said, we all have a story. We're
all, there's a great quote. I don't know if I
remember exactly, but you can. You know everybody's
going through something that you may not know
anything about so you know just be kind be Compassionate
be a hundred percent you know everyone's struggling
with something right and they may be having a
bad day for whatever reason But you know unless
you really know their full story Just a little
bit of grace is sometimes well you're you're
100 % right You know you see these videos now
on social media of people freaking out in traffic
and smashing windshields And you know when you've
been in therapy, or if you're a trained professional
like yourself you instantly know this has nothing
to do with the person that cut them off. There's
something very much that's there's something
else going on in their lives that that are pushing
them to that that thing like one of the greatest
things I learned in therapy is like imagine you're
a barrel right and you know you're if you wake
up with with rainwater up to here up to the brim
which the rainwater being your your stress your
trauma your emotions it's gonna take just a little
bit of rain for it to spill over. So the idea
is to keep that barrel near empty, right? We
all wish it was empty, but it's kind of impossible,
right? So keep it near empty, and you do that
through mindfulness, meditation, talk therapy,
medication, whatever it is. So I love what you
do. I also, I've dabbled in this... holistic
approach that you talked about, because it says
you've advocated for non -medication and non
-labeling approaches, and I remember when I first
started going to therapy, the therapist I went
to at the time did not have the ability to prescribe,
so I went to my primary, and this is not a, I'm
not disparaging primary doctors, I love my primary
doctor, and everybody should have one, but I
also think that there's a certain portion that
should not be doling out mental health medication,
because I remember the primary doctor I had at
the time, I was explaining what I was going through,
and without even making eye contact, just looking
on his computer, was like, do you want, I don't
know, do you want Lexapro, do you want Prozac?
And I remember sitting there thinking, I don't
know what I want. And medication does work, but
I think there needs to be a mental health professional
that's catering it, because... I recently started
working with Dr. Shiavi, who I've had on the
show, and she is a specialist like yourself.
And she takes a holistic approach. And so there
are tests now. I did a DNA test that was able
to tell me, by name, what medications will work
for me, what medications I might feel some effects
from and want us to stay away from, by name.
And there was also a test I took that showed
my gene mutations. how I have a gene mutation
with serotonin. And I mean, it is, medicine is
coming, and science is coming, it's come so far.
Do you wanna talk about that a little bit, about
the medication and some of the holistic approaches
that you believe in in practice? Yeah, so especially
when I got started, I mean, part of my, I was
probably a lot more aggressive in terms of, you
know, not asserting, you know, we shouldn't be
drugging. like really young kids. So that was
a big focus of mine. And my wife would always
have to remind me about, I'd get more with honey
than vinegar. You know, you might have to take
a little, but it took me some years to really
kind of, you know, incorporate that. But you're
right. I mean, the thing with medication is,
especially without knowing that stuff that you
know, You don't necessarily know what's going
to work or what's not going to work. It's like,
you know, it's like an experiment of one. Like,
you know, let's try this and see what. And so,
you know, for me early on, especially working
with parents is like, you know, often it was
like they said something they necessarily wanted
to do. They weren't getting medication for their
kids. So our approach was let's try everything
we can, you know, and if and if we and if you
decide at some point like this is that. Like,
this is a parent's choice with their doctor about
whether or not they're going to try medication.
It's like, I'm just providing some thoughts around
that. And one of it was like, if you get to a
point where you think that's something you want
to try, then don't feel guilty. Don't feel...
Right. Defeated. It's not a loss. Right. And
just know that your goal can still be... eventually
maybe not to have to use the medication. That's
right. Or you use the lowest dose possible, you
know, or they sometimes they do drug holidays
for their kids. Yeah. So it was more about, you
know, empowering them to, you know, really be
in charge of that decision, but also know that,
you know, once your decision is not final, like
you could. It's not like once you're on it, you're
on it forever. It doesn't have to be that way.
And it did feel that way for me. You know, I
think, I guess I used to treat medication kind
of like back surgery back in the day, which was
like, if you go to a doctor and the first thing
they want to do is backs, you know, you're having
back problem, they want to do back surgery. That's
a red flag. Like there's a, let's try a million
other approaches first and let's use the medication
or let's use the back surgery last. Do you kind
of feel it's that way in mental health? Like
let's try, cause there's, especially now with
all these different forms of therapy, you know,
maybe Let's try those first and and worry about
medication last well especially with the young
kids because again the Brain still developing
yeah, it's like what mid 20s or so until your
brain is Mostly fully developed like so we're
introducing things and the young kids that can
You know can be problematic sure if we're not
careful, so That's why I always you know I'm
cautious with that and also we can You know it
can It doesn't really address necessarily what
the root of it is. So again, a lot of my background
is dealing with kids who are dealing with a lot
of significant trauma and stuff. So they may
be acting in a way that if they have some medication
might help settle them out. But part of the reason
that they're there is because of their history.
So it's not addressing some of the root causes.
It's just numbing it, yeah. Just kind of masking
it. So making sure that we still you still explore
some of those potential reasons why they are,
where they are, where they are, and try to promote
things that are healing. You mentioned mindfulness
can be very healing. One of the things we know,
and that's come a long way too. Some of the things
that get researched is what makes money, right?
So if you're not gonna necessarily make a lot
of money by selling a mindfulness program. And
universities may not be spending, you know, millions
of dollars doing the research, but there has
been some research done that shows that it can,
you know, alleviate things for some people. But
one of the things that I like about it, because
I work with young kids and we teach them about
mindfulness and, you know, breath work and that
kind of stuff in the schools. And we've even
been having them do some yoga with a person that
we've been bringing in. And the kids love it.
I mean, they enjoy that. But getting them to
like take a breath just to pause just to 100
before they like react to something like it's
something you have to like do consistently you
know um for it to become something that becomes
then something you can rely on so you know a
lot of the kids um that i work with they just
react to things right so um i often talk about
like uh you know if you grew up in this area
and you know what it's like when you go the first
sledding opportunity and when it snowed, you
know, sometimes you're going down that hill and
it's kind of slow because you haven't created
those grooves in the snow yet. I love that. Once
you've gone down a number of times, then that
pathway is like, you know, it's really fast.
Absolutely. And so a lot of our kids, that's
their like neural pathways, like when they respond
to things, like it's just an automatic, you know,
fight flight or this kind of thing. And so to
create those new neural pathways takes a lot
of time like that. It's a lot of work. So, you
know, practicing the mindfulness, practicing,
you know, calming strategies, you know, to develop
new neural pathways so that then when they're
confronted with something, instead of just automatically
going down that path, I'm going to fight you.
You're going to take that pathway of I'm just
going to take a breath. take a moment to kind
of think about what's going on, and I'm gonna
choose a different way to respond. You're so
right. You're so right. It's been, you know,
people think that sometimes you go to therapy,
and then, like, you know, there's some magic
bullet they're gonna hit you with, and they don't
realize that, you know, a lot of the work is
outside of the office, and kind of retraining
your brain. And, you know, so it's funny, like,
when I first started with my struggles, if I
had heard someone say, well, you should try yoga,
you should try going for a walk, In my mind,
I would laugh it off because I would think, listen,
no walk in yoga is not going to help the hell
that I'm feeling. Not realizing that it's piece
by piece, you know, that those things work in
addition to everything else we talked about.
But you got to slowly chip away at it and create
those new neural pathways. And all of that is
so important. I do want to talk about the 5K,
but one question I wanted to ask you as a professional.
There's a lot of crossover with anxiety, depression,
ADHD, borderline personality disorder. I mean,
if you go online, it's very overwhelming because
a lot of the symptoms are the same symptoms.
And it can be hell trying to figure out what's
going on. But one thing we're hearing a lot about
is ADHD. When I was growing up, I clearly had
it. but again this is the 80s and 90s and back
then it was very much of you're disrupting the
class leave or you need to put them on Ritalin
and you know the stigma is oh squirrel he can't
pay attention but what people don't realize is
there's so much more struggle and so much more
to ADHD than just lack of focus. Lack of focus
is a part of it for sure. Do you want to talk
about that a little bit on some of the misconceptions
and what you know about that? Well yeah I certainly
agree with you know growing up in the 70s and
80s it was a much different thing yeah and uh
you know we've seen a lot it's an interesting
thing i mean we could probably do a whole show
just on that but oh god i could go forever yeah
um but i think i think you're right i see so
from my vantage point a lot of it is like you
know um we just expect kids to fit our you know
expectations like so in terms of a classroom
setting, like we just expect kids, they're all
just gonna sit, and there's chairs for seven
hours, and pay attention, and they're seven years
old, but that's not how it works, and we know
that some kids, it's just very difficult for
them to do that. So we should be making adjustments
for them, not expecting them to adjust to some
unrealistic expectations. Part of it for me is
the label is the label. Part of the reason when
I talk to the parents, especially in kids, about
the labels is I don't want them just to identify
themselves as that. I want them to identify themselves
with all the amazing qualities that they have
and not say, well, I can't help it. Or use that
as a way to define themselves. So yeah, we have
those behaviors that are associated with ADHD,
but what else makes you who you are? What are
those qualities that make you? And so some of
the things that may be problematic at school
may be, in other parts of their life, may be
a strength. I love that. So again, helping them
to develop some strategies so that, you know,
there are situations where we do need them to
maybe adhere a little bit to what the expectations
are. I'm not saying that kids should just be
running around the building like... No, no, no.
But, you know, they can certainly be walking
around the classroom. Yep. They're not disrupting.
They could certainly have some fidgets there.
They can have some breaks. You know, a lot of
schools and classrooms now are using calm corners,
which is something where... Yeah. But again,
it's something you have to really teach the kids
how to use appropriately. It's not just back
there and play. It's like if you really need
a break, it's a place you can go back and maybe
color or do something that's gonna be kind of
calming for you. What was your question again?
Talking about ADHD, you forgot his question.
No, so the question is just like, you're right
on it. Just like some of the misconceptions about
ADHD and... how it's more than just lack of focus.
Yeah. And also, I mean, you know, probably 10
years ago, they started talking more about it
with girls, too. Yes. Girls who maybe had difficulty
with the focus. They were just kind of getting
overlooked because, you know, the boys tend to
be more, you know, yeah, outwardly. Yes. Displaying
some of those things. So, you know, I think there's
been a. You know, definitely it. It's definitely
evolved. You know, I think it's definitely better
awareness. And also, I think, you know, again,
giving kids, you know, opportunities to have
breaks in school. A hundred percent. Because
it's a struggle. Like, it's not like, you know,
people will have those difficulties. It's not
like they, you know, want to. No. It's not like
they're, you know, not wanting to. Right. And
I think I think that's what it was. It was Like
you said in the beginning, oh, this is the rules
of the classroom. If you can't follow it, then
you can't be part of it, or there's something
wrong with you. When the fact is, our brains
are not allowing us to do the, like, we need
to move, we need to fidget, we need to take a
break. You know, it would be like, you know,
different quarterbacks have different, different,
what's the word I'm looking for, processes in
between games, right? So like, one quarterback
might like to watch film and then go go out in
the field and practice these drills or no one
quarterback has the same the same process you
can't tell them well that's not how we do you
got to do everyone processes information different
everyone has different processes and it's like
that with ADHD you know it there's there's more
to it than just focus it's it's feeling overwhelmed
like you can't start a project or getting hyper
focused on something too much or The big one
is being very reactionary, being very rejection
sensitivity. There's just a lot to it. So I'm
so glad that you're able to shed the light on
that. And certainly one of the things that especially
young kids need is they need a recess. Some of
our schools have completely taken that out of
the school day. And I think that's part of the
thing too. I think we're seeing probably more
of some of the behaviors than we might have seen
years ago because I think we're seeing more of
them because now we're putting kids in situations
where they're really not able to do what we want
them to do. Like we're putting so much focus
on test scores, on things that really don't have
a lot of meaning. You know, school, seven hours
for young kids can be like... It can be difficult.
And we've made it even more challenging because
it's just so scripted and they're trying to fit
so much in because it's all about how well they
do on some of these tests. And not that tests
don't have a place, but we overemphasize them
and we start way too early with them. And if
we looked at other countries that don't do what
we do, and have better outcomes, you would think
we'd make some adjustments, but. Listen, you
are speaking my language. I took a sociology
class where we studied the workforce. I've talked
about this many times on the show. We studied
the workforce in overseas countries where they're
given four to six week vacations, four day work
weeks, complete health benefits, and these workers
are getting interviewed and they're being asked,
like, well, don't you find... that you're not
making as much money and, I mean, you're allowing
all this vacation time. And the bottom line is,
if you take care of your workers, if they have
enough money to afford to live, if they have
enough vacation and weekend time to spend with
their families, it all comes back full circle
into society where everybody is more rested,
healthy, happy, and more willing to work harder.
And it's kind of that same mentality in school
with what you're saying. and having a recess,
you know? Well, even, I mean, you know, kids
are born with a natural, you know, love of learning,
curiosity, you know, wonder. And it seems like
our goal in education now is just to squash that.
Right. It's like, why aren't we... Celebrating
it. Yeah. Celebrating that, like, you know, giving
kids more opportunities to explore things that
they might have a passion for instead of just
making them not like school because... It's just
not interesting. So we really have to think,
you know, what is education for? Like, what's
the purpose? Right. I mean, that's a question
I think really we have to be asking ourselves,
especially after COVID. What is the ultimate
purpose? Because it's certainly not just to memorize
facts. Exactly. You know, for some it may be
to learn a skill through even bringing back some
of the BOCES programs in high school and learning,
you know, a career through that. Not every kid
certainly has to go to college, but, you know,
really giving kids more of an opportunity to
explore what it's like, you know, collaborate
with each other and just, I think, be more creative
and allow teachers to be more creative. You know,
again, teachers, you know, sometimes get a bad
rap, but boy, I have so much respect for what
they say every day. But giving them some more
autonomy and creativity to work with their peers
and And the resources, giving them the resources.
Instead of just telling them, okay, X, Y, and
Z. That was scripted out for them. They deserve
it much. I always loved and respected teachers.
But like you, I only worked in the school. Before
I took this job, I worked in the Ithaca City
School District for about a year and a half.
And anything I thought I knew, I... I didn't
I didn't realize what they're up against the
resources they don't have sometimes The support
that that the lack of support in some areas.
I mean they're also Some of the things you were
talking about are celebrated there there are
They do have leeway to be more creative and teach
the way they want to teach so there were some
good things too but I really got to see what
teachers go through and how important they are
and We need to take care of our teachers for
sure. But listen I get You would have been out
of here 10 or 15 minutes ago. Unfortunately,
I found out you were involved in mental health,
and it's something I'm passionate about, so I
apologize. Let's talk about the Inner Harbor
5K. That's why you're really here. Michael Gilbert,
you are the, would I say you're the executive
director of the Inner Harbor 5K? The Inner Harbor
5K is something that it's about child and family,
you know, has put on for 17 years. It was part
of the nonprofit that was one of our fundraisers,
but also one of our community events. So I've
certainly been the race director of that with
all my other hats. But I'm excited this year
because we're actually making a transition where
we're partnering with the Syracuse Run Club.
We'll have to get them on at some point. But
they're about a year old now. And it was funny
because last year, putting on a race, I learned
is not as easy as maybe I thought it was when
I first started, because I ran in races, but
I'd never certainly organized one. So, I mean,
luckily I had some people who had done it and
helped me, but it's a lot of work, especially
the couple of weeks leading up to it. So, last
summer I was down at the Inner Harbor, kind of
checking out the course and making sure there
was no holes that people might fall into as they
were running around. And this group of runners
came, you know, through the harbor, it was like
probably 150 runners. I was like, what is going
on? I've never seen anything like this in the
city. And so as they're running by, I'm asking
people like, what's going on? And somebody finally
yelled out that it was part of the Syracuse Run
Club and get a hold of Eli. So I checked them
out and saw what they were doing. And so I started
to... collaborate a little bit with them. You
know, we often have a lot of shirts left over
and so, you know, and I asked them if they want
some of those and to help promote the race, but
also kind of clean out my garage of stuff I don't
need. So, you know, they thought they wanted
to start their own race. And so I let them kind
of explore that. And I think they learned what
I learned early on that takes a lot of work and
it's also can be expensive depending on where
in the city you want to run. So, you know, so
I just approached them and said, you know, if
you if you really want your own race, I go, what
do you think about the Inter Harbor 5K? Because,
you know, I'm going to be probably looking to
transition. I wanted to keep going, but I don't
want to be the one who's doing it. And so they
were interested in that. So we've been, you know,
meeting frequently in the last few months to
help them, you know, learn about all the different
components to the race and with the idea that
eventually they'll kind of take it over fully.
I mean, I'll still be involved. I'm still going
to help them. Sure. You know, our nonprofit is
still going to do a lot with the Brexey run because
that's, you know, very important to us. But they're
going to bring a lot new new energy to it, new
life. It's a younger crew. So they're much more
savvy with the social media stuff and the you
know, their flyers and graphics than I would
ever hope. It's a good partnership. So they're
bringing a lot to the event. And we're already
seeing that. We're already, you know, our registrations
are already beyond what we've had this year.
So it's a good partnership. Yeah. And this is
exciting. So it's the Syracuse Inner Harbor 5K.
It's on October 5th, Sunday, October 5th, 2025.
There's a lot going on. You've got the 2k race
Run for brexy which starts at 9 a .m. The 5k
races at 930 1030 our awards You've got a kids
activity zone with games giveaways Otto's gonna
be there ice cream and then post race I love
this talking about you know mental health awareness
and and and that is is you got post race yoga
massage a DJ food truck raffles This is awesome.
What let's talk a little bit about the 2k piece
run for brexie. What is what is that about? That's
that kind of kicks the whole event off. Yeah,
so We've always had a kids run with our race.
Yeah, so sometimes it's been a mile sometimes
It's you know number of years ago We went to
a 2k just to be a little different and also to
fit the the course because it's you know It's
hard to get an exact route down there. Yeah And
and then three years ago there was a student
Brexie in Syracuse City who was I think it was
in January She was walking to the corner store
to get milk for the family and there was a drive
-by shooting Oh had nothing to do with her and
she was killed I You know got to know mom a little
bit from some work I was doing the community
over on the west side and she was working there
and You know, I talked to her a few months after
and I said, you know, I You know, I'd like to,
you know, I have an idea about the 2K run, because
I knew she wanted, I mean, Brexia had such a
spark to her, like, she was like, just lit up
the room, I think, wherever she went, you know,
you know, talking to people that knew her well.
You know, I've always said that about her. And
so, you know, I approached Mom and I said, you
know, I'd like to name the race after her and,
you know, kind of promote it and you know we'll
give some stuff back to the community we donate
a lot of like books and stuff to various places
and do some scholarships for kids to go to different
camps and so we try to do those in Brexey's honor.
So mom was very appreciative and and she wanted
to do it so this will be the third year that's
been the 2k Peace Run for Brexey so the idea
is you know to to come out and have some fun
to you know to remember her in a positive way.
It's also about just the senseless gun violence
that they'll deal with. We're not going to spend
time at that event, really going negative on
it. We really want it to be a positive event.
But we also want that awareness that not only
for Brexie, but for all the other... We've lost
a lot of kids in the city. It's awful. I mean,
that's why this show exists to counter that.
You turn on the news locally, nationally, and
it's just doom and gloom. And it feels more than
ever with the 24 -hour news cycle. So an event
like this is amazing. Also, the proceeds from
your event's going to support the local nonprofits
you were talking about, as well as athletic departments
at five Syracuse City School District high schools.
So man, you're doing it all. That was the Syracuse
Run Club. That was one of the things that they
wanted to focus on. giving back to those athletic
clubs. So yeah, we're gonna, it's gonna be fun.
We may have some special guests that I can't
handle yet. I mean Otto is pretty special. He's
pretty special. And during the years we've had
Crunch Man and Scooch. I don't want to say they're
the same person, but we have had races where
all three of them have been. That's amazing.
It's been amazing. I was beginning to wonder
if it was just, we had one person. You dispelled
the conspiracy theory that it was one person.
They were all in the same place. All right, well,
before we hit the plugs, you guys are still looking
for volunteers for the Inner Harbor 5K, correct?
And also racers as well? Yes, definitely. Runners,
walkers, if you want to volunteer, we'll definitely
put you to work. We can never have too many volunteers.
And the nice thing, again, with the Syracuse
Run Club is they really want to do more. Like
the after race kind of vibe. Yeah. That's with
the DJs and the food trucks. And so it's probably
going to get even bigger news to come. But even
if you want to come down and just. I was going
to say, even if you don't want to race, come
down for the after party. Come down and check
it out. And, you know, you still get a massage
if you want. You know, I might just show up for
that. Is that OK? Michael Gilbert, you are an
amazing man. Michael Gilbert, it's all about
childhood and family. Incorporated is his business.
Also, one of the organizers for the Inner Harbor
5K, which is Sunday, October 5th, 2025. Give
us the plugs. Where can people go to check out
info, sign up to volunteer, to register to race?
Give us all the plugs. Right, so run sign up
is the site that you can register either to volunteer
or to But those links are also on our Facebook
page and our Harbor 5K Facebook page. Also the
Syracuse Run Club Facebook page. And we also
have Instagram pages for the Inner Harbor. And
it's about child and family and the Syracuse
Run. My social media. It's okay. Listen, you
do so much. You're allowed to... to not be great
at one thing. Yeah, you're only one man. If you
go to those platforms and you look for Inner
Harbor 5K or Syracuse Run Club or It's About
Child and Family, you're definitely gonna find
something. Right, okay. Let's go with it. Don't
bother trying to get a hold of him on social
media. He doesn't know how. But he knows how
to take care of people and he knows how to throw
one heck of a race. And we're so happy you came
on. Michael Gilbert, you're the man. The Syracuse
Inner Harbor... 5K, Sunday, October 5th, 2025,
Syracuse, New York, facebook .com, Inner Harbor,
5K. And thank you for coming on the show. Thank
you for having me. It's been great. This is awesome.
Please come back. I will. All right. And with
that, it is Mike Brindisi saying goodbye to you
on this Tuesday on Good News York, sponsored
by ads on the go, getadsonthego .com. We will
be back tomorrow. And we'll see you then.