- All right, everybody.
We are back with Adam Scott and Ryan Michelle Bathe.
Give it up! (audience cheering)
(everyone applauding)
So when our next guest fell on hard times,
it was his love of gardening
and the kindness of strangers at a homeless shelter
that helped him get back on his feet.
Now he's paying it forward.
It's such a cool story, y'all.
Growing thousands of pounds of food
that he gives to strangers at shelters
here in Southern California.
This is what makes him a good neighbor.
(upbeat music) ♪ Good, good ♪
♪ So good ♪ (audience applauding)
♪ Good neighbor ♪ (audience cheering)
♪ So good ♪
So good. (whispers)
It's my favorite part. (laughs)
(audience laughing) From In God's Hands Garden,
let's welcome Charlie, y'all!
(everyone cheering and applauding)
So, it's lovely to meet you.
We met in the little break.
Have you met Ryan?
Have you met Adam?
- Nice to meet you. - Okay.
- Nice to meet you. - We can't touch.
Yeah. We're not like. - Here we go.
- We're allowed to do that.
(Ryan and audience laughing) Yeah.
Meeting people now is so awkward.
You're like, I can't touch you, but you have seem awesome.
So wait, tell us a little about your life
and how you ended up homeless.
- Well, I was serving in the United States Air force
from 1975. - And thank you for that.
(everyone applauding) Yeah.
- To 1979. - Yeah.
- And when I was honorably discharged,
I asked God for something that I could do
with my own hands that I can make a living at.
And I'm a master barbecuer.
I was taught by my uncle at age eight years old.
And I prepared foods
and sold 'em outta disco-techs and nightclubs.
And through the night clubs... - Gettin' people
when they're drunk and hungry.
(everyone laughing) That's a smart plan.
- So, but through the nightclubs,
I met the largest promoter in the Southwest.
And he started booking me for doing backstage catering.
And so I catered people from Julio Iglesias
all the way to Guns N' Roses.
- Which is awesome.
But Kelly, it was a really,
really fast life I was living and I was young.
And some years after my mom passed,
I moved back to Riverside, California.
And that's where I became homeless.
- Oh gosh!
So, you ended up rediscovering your love of gardening.
Was it the first shelter were at?
- Well, yes, I moved to the Bell Shelter.
No, it wasn't the first shelter.
It was the third shelter. - Oh okay.
- But this was the Bell Shelter
in Southern California, in 2014.
And the administrator told me
that they had a gated garden there.
So I volunteered in gated garden for a while
but I had a bigger vision that I wanted to do more.
And so I asked the director
and he allowed me to occupy 1,150 square feet,
pretty far back from the gated garden.
And that's how the garden started.
- Wow! And so you ended up giving that food
to the people that were at the shelter, right?
- That's correct. - Yeah.
- When you know, those people were really need it.
And you know, they come in tore down,
broken up and everything like that.
And organic, healthy food helped get me back together.
So, I thought it would help them as well.
And I even brought some for you, Kelly.
- Oh, I love food!
(audience applauding) You brought it, yes!
- Oh! - Oh my God!
Did you really grow all this?
- Yes. - What?
These are my favorites. - Those are beats, yes.
- So, okay.
I'm gonna tell you right now, I grow beats in my garden.
They're like half this size. (laughs)
(everyone laughing)
I'm like, I don't know what you are doing,
but I need a little tip.
'Cause my beats, I'm like, why are they so small?
I don't know why they're so small
but this is such a great idea.
Do you have any bigger kind of goal?
- Well, my goal is to hopefully expand
to a one or two acre site. - Yeah.
- And to turn into a teaching garden.
- And so. - Oh I love that.
- That I can teach the children how to work
with the land and how to sustain themselves for life.
- Amen, yeah. How are you guys with planting?
Do you garden?
- I know how to let things die.
(everyone laughing)
- That is not gardening. (laughs)
- [Adam] Oh. (Kelly laughing)
- I grow food in the back, I'm better with herbs.
- Chamomile is fun to grow
and it's also beautiful to look at.
- It's so good. - It's such wonderful thing
to watch, you know, what nature does, what it gives to us.
- Amen, yeah.
- And you just take care of it and you nurture it
just like raising a child. - Yeah.
- You nurture your plants and you feed them
and talk to them and take care of them
and this is what comes out.
- Yeah. Hopefully you don't raise your kids like you garden.
(Kelly laughing)
(everyone laughing and applauding)
(Ryan laughs) (Kelly speaks indistinctly)
You're a great dad, I'm just kidding. (laughs)
We have the Operations Director
for the Salvation Army Bell Shelter dialed in.
So let's say hi to Amy, everybody!
Hi, Amy! (everyone applauding)
So Amy, can you tell us
about the impact that you've seen from Charlie's work?
'Cause I can only imagine.
- Definitely. So, prior to Charlie starting this,
we didn't have a lot of fresh greens
and now our cooks
can provide a whole new level
of quality food for our residents.
And they definitely notice it too.
So, eating Charlie's vegetables
gives them a different perspective
of what's out there and what he's growing
and where it's coming from and how it's available.
The residents are super ecstatic to know also
that Charlie who was a former member,
is actually growing this right across from us.
So it definitely makes them excited about this.
And it gives them all hope because they see Charlie
and they think, well, if Charlie can do this,
we can do this too,
and you know. - Absolutely.
Charlie, seeing you start this from the roots down
and making this grow to what it is today
has just given me, it's just inspired me also.
And you know, working with you personally
has just been great, Charlie.
- Well, thank you Miss Amy. (everyone applauding)
- You know, I feel the same way, Miss Amy.
I remember back in 2014, when I had walked into the shelter,
how you and Steve and Miss Helma welcomed me
along with my dog Gracie.
- Yes.
- And I cannot thank you enough.
And I'm so honored
that salvation army has allowed me
to give back to them
as well as to others throughout Los Angeles.
I'm eternally grateful to you.
- Absolutely. (everyone applauding)
- And we love what you're doing.
- Thank you.
- And that's why we are giving
In God's Hands Gardens,
$5,000 to help out. (audience applauding)
Keeping whatever we can do. (audience cheering)
- Thank you. - And I'm actually,
I'm gonna double it anyway.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much, Charlie!