November 13, 2024 • 37 mins
Rene Gellerman, President and CEO of United Way, joins us to share the inspiring journey behind her new book, "Adventures of Kids United: The Glass Bridge." Her personal story translates into a powerful narrative about five children discovering their unique superpowers. Through the lens of the iconic Sky Bridge (located in Davenport, Iowa in real life), Rene paints a vibrant picture of potential when community support meets youthful curiosity and talent.
This episode digs into the heart of empowering young minds through literacy and community engagement. We discuss United Way's dedicated initiatives, like distributing books to thousands of second graders and involving middle school students in meaningful conversations about their educational experiences. Our conversation highlights the transformative impact of giving children a voice and the tools they need to thrive in their educational journey, particularly following pandemic-related challenges.
We round out our conversation by exploring the vibrant cultural and educational landscape of the Quad Cities. From the lively music scene to significant community efforts funded by generous grants, the Quad Cities are a hub of opportunity and hope. Rene and I both express our dreams for a future where children are empowered to achieve their aspirations, backed by a community that believes in them. Tune in to hear how you can be part of this exciting movement that champions young dreamers and builds a brighter tomorrow.
Learn more about the programs you heard on this podcast: https://www.unitedwayqc.org/KidsUnited
Follow along on social media:
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https://www.linkedin.com/company/unitedwayquadcities
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rene Gellerman (00:00):
If you want to lead in any area, you have
access and opportunity to do it.
Here the competition isdifferent if you're in Chicago
or even Des Moines or KansasCity or St Louis.
It's just different and I lovethat about the Quad Cities and
my kids do too.
Intro (00:17):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Katrina Keuning (00:40):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm Katrina, yourhost, and today I am with Renee
Gellerman, the United WayPresident and CEO.
Renee hello, how are you?
Rene Gellerman (00:48):
Hi, katrina, I'm great Thank you.
Katrina Keuning (00:50):
Thanks for joining this podcast.
We were talking a little bitbefore we started recording and
there's a lot of reallyimportant things going on that
the United Way is tackling, thatthe United Way is tackling.
Renee, you just authored yourfirst book, Adventures of Kids
(01:12):
United, the Glass Bridge.
I want to just jump right in.
Why did you write the book andhow does that kind of intersect
with United Way's mission inwhat you're trying to achieve?
Rene Gellerman (01:22):
Well with my work with United Way.
It's really shown me thepotential that kids have when
they're supported and encouraged.
I happen to be a volunteerthrough our Read United program,
so every week I go in andvolunteer to read with a student
for 30 minutes and I reallybetter understood the potential
(01:44):
that kids have, and sometimesyou don't know you have
potential until someone tellsyou that you do, and so my book
is really inspired by all that.
I want to bring a message tolife that was fun and
adventurous, the kids couldrelate to, while also showing
them that their unique talentsare really their own superpowers
.
Katrina Keuning (02:03):
So that's kind of what the book is about.
So there's it's five kids fromthe Quad Cities and they all.
I read the description.
I haven't read the book yet, soI want to get my hands on a
copy, and I've got two littleboys of my own that I would love
to share this with.
Rene Gellerman (02:16):
I'm going to get you a copy, Katrina.
Katrina Keuning (02:18):
Yes, thank you.
Rene Gellerman (02:25):
Yeah, so tell me a little bit about the kids in
the book without spoiling it.
Well, there are five kids, andthose kids are actually based on
my own children.
Each character in the bookrepresents the unique talents
and personalities of my own kids, and the book is really all
about teaching kids that theyhave their own unique strengths
and I call them superpowers.
In the book and through thestory, they work together and
(02:49):
they learn, being kind and bybelieving in themselves that
they can overcome any obstacle,and so I think the story is
really a fun and engaging wayfor kids to learn that life
skills that they need to grow upto be confident leaders and
change makers.
Katrina Keuning (03:08):
For any Quad citizens listening.
Are there any familiarlandmarks, quad City-isms that
appear throughout the book?
Rene Gellerman (03:17):
Yeah, so not only my five kids who are raised
here in the Quad Cities, butthis book is actually called the
Adventures of Kids United theGlass Bridge.
The Glass Bridge, theinspiration was the Sky Bridge,
and I know there are some youknow goofy things said about the
(03:39):
Sky Bridge, like the Sky Bridgeto nowhere and stuff.
But I've been around for awhile so I know the history of
that Sky Bridge and so it'sreally symbolic.
There's a story story behindthat.
Maybe you and I can get to it,but it's the sky bridge that the
kids see and they're inspiredby and they find their way to
the sky bridge and it's amystery, uh bridge.
(03:59):
They cross over and they end upopening the door at the end and
they find a hovering spaceship.
Katrina Keuning (04:06):
Oh, that's my kind of book.
I love it.
Yeah, the Sky Bridge to kind ofgo on that topic briefly, the
Sky Bridge is quite an assethere and I know what you're
saying.
There's there is some likechitter chatter about what is it
and you know the purpose behindit and that kind of thing which
(04:29):
I would.
I want to hear your, your takeon it and what you know, because
what I know, when I was like avery young teen, I believe, my
family was from here and I didnot live here yet in the Quad
Cities and I would come and Iremember my cousin told me about
the Sky Bridge that had justfinished building in Davenport
(04:49):
and she's like I have to takeyou to go see the Sky Bridge.
It's colorful, you can, it's alookout, you can see the whole
town.
Come with me and see it.
And so it was an adventure.
We went.
I'd never seen it before, I'dnever seen anything like it
before, never seen it before,I'd never seen anything like it
before, and we really loved itand we had a great time.
And you know, as the years havegone on, I mean it's it's become
not only like a visual asset,it's kind of like a recognizable
(05:12):
feature of our community, ourQuad Cities, but it's also been
used.
It's been programmed.
I mean Alternating Currentsuses it and it's like I said
it's it's a lookout, it's kindof a cool.
It's kind of a cool assetvisually for people to go hey,
you can, you can climb up inthere and you can look this way,
you can look that way, you canget some great photography.
(05:34):
I've seen some really greatphotography out of that bridge.
So it is a cultural asset.
It's something that we like to,you know, look at as far as
like our arts and culture scenetoo.
It's, it's an art piece, ifnothing else.
I'd love to hear the backgroundof it too.
Rene Gellerman (05:51):
Well, it's iconic and it's used for event.
You know special events I haveexercised in that sky bridge,
gone up and down the steps onboth sides, walk across stretch,
so there's homecoming picturesare taken in that sky bridge.
It's iconic.
But the back history and whyit's included in my book, beyond
(06:13):
this iconic and recognizablestructure, is the symbolism that
relates to the theme of thebook.
So that sky bridge really wasthe result of a small group of
people, regular people like youand me, who cared about their
community, and they cametogether and talked about how do
(06:33):
we make our downtown better?
And this small group of peoplereally were the drivers of the
creation of the sky bridge andthey had to, as part of the
referendum funding, the statefunding from the state of Iowa
for River Vision.
That actually was the fundingthat helped create the Figge Art
(06:54):
Museum, the redevelopment andthe rehab of the Redstone
Building, which is where CommonCore is located, and that Sky
Bridge was all part of this andit is a lookout point.
It's magnificent views of theMississippi River, right where
the Mississippi turns.
You can see both directions.
And it means a lot to mebecause I was around in sort of
(07:18):
this community service role andI worked at the chamber at the
time when all this happened soto see the community come
together, just residents whocare about the future of their
region, they care about qualityof life.
They understood the economicripple effect that development
would have on the MississippiRiver.
(07:38):
I think that bridge is sosymbolic that I wanted to use it
as part of my story and I knowkids won't know that, but for me
I wanted to connect it andhonestly I'm paying tribute to
those people.
I know a lot of the people thatreally were on the forefront of
that first round ofrehabilitation and enhancing of
(08:01):
our downtown Davenport.
Katrina Keuning (08:03):
And the fact that you were able to work in
rotation and enhancing of ourdowntown Davenport and the fact
that you were able to work in anasset and a piece of the
community that, like adults,will know.
Like you said, the kids don'tknow but the adults do, and I
think half of the psychology ofgetting a children's book in
somebody's hand is trying toappeal to their parents too, so
that they'll pick it up and go.
Hey, I know that thing.
Let's take a look at this.
And this book is driving a muchlarger purpose, and would you
(08:26):
talk to us about the initiativewith getting these books into
the hands of as many secondgraders as possible?
Rene Gellerman (08:34):
Yes, I'd love to .
So at Unite Away, we reallymobilize people and resources so
that everyone can thrive, andwe focus in three very specific
areas, and that would be youthopportunity and education.
The second one is financialsecurity and workforce and the
third one is a healthy community.
(08:55):
And in the area of educationand youth opportunity, we want
to make sure that the QuadCities is the best it can be, so
every kid has an opportunity tobe successful at whatever they
want to do, and literacy is acore piece of that.
So you look across the globeand reading proficiency.
(09:18):
There's a milestone it's thirdgrade, that up until third grade
, kids are learning to read, andthen at third grade that up
until third grade, kids arelearning to read, and then at
third grade, they have to readto be able to learn.
And so we work really closelywith all of our school districts
in Scott County and Rock IslandCounty to identify challenges
that we're seeing in the schoolsand opportunities, and literacy
(09:41):
is one of those opportunities.
The pandemic really dampened theprogress of kids academically
everywhere.
But what makes the Quad Citiesdifferent is that we do have
these key leaders.
All these superintendents areactually working together across
cities, across the region andthis is really unusual we're
(10:02):
actually contacted frequently tokind of describe the model and
use it as a best practice acrossthe Quad City or across the
country, and we really land onliteracy being a key milestone
that we want to work hard atimproving in the Quad Cities.
So the book really is to shinea light and raise awareness of
(10:23):
the importance of readingproficiency.
It's the biggest indicatorwhether somebody is going to
graduate from high school.
It's the biggest indicator ontheir lifetime earnings.
It's the biggest indicator ofwhether they're going to change
a generation trajectory if theycome from a lower income poverty
area, and so we've got this bigfocus on it.
(10:44):
And so we're trying to sellenough books and raise enough
money that we can put this bookinto the hands of 3000 second
graders, that's every secondgrader in the Quad Cities.
All the proceeds from the saleof this book I am donating back
to United Way to fund literacyprograms.
Katrina Keuning (11:04):
And those literacy programs like I didn't
know until today when I startedlooking at unitedwayqcorg to see
those stats.
I mean it's staggering.
You know the fact that you putit into words as far as third
before third grade, you learn toread.
Third before third grade, youlearn to read.
And after you read, to learn,that's.
(11:26):
That's so eye opening.
And that that second grade mark, what?
What is it?
So 75% of students who strugglein third grade will continue to
struggle into high school.
Rene Gellerman (11:42):
Well, it makes sense.
If you can't read well, it'shard to comprehend what you're
learning.
Katrina Keuning (11:48):
Absolutely, and so it's like you and others who
are behind you in this.
You know Kids United literacyeffort.
You've identified the key timeto get those.
You know get those books inkids' hands.
You know second grade andearlier devoting the time
talking about it.
You know getting everybody onboard and aware.
(12:09):
I love that you and your teamare being like thought leaders
and and leaders in the countryof how to tackle this problem,
because it's not just a QuadCities problem.
You know it's something thatthe entire nation.
Rene Gellerman (12:25):
Yeah, it really is and the fact that we do have
people here in the Quad Citiesthat are activating to address
this.
Not only are we just doing thisbook, but right now we have
about 800 people in the QuadCities that meet with a student
kindergarten through fourthgrade every week for 30 minutes
(12:47):
to read with them, to help themget caught up.
We've improved readingproficiency about 15% since 2021
.
And so we have a community thatcares about their kids.
We want to be a standoutcommunity that prioritizes
education and people are willingto give their time, talent and
(13:09):
their money to help us, you know, improve those conditions for
our kids.
Katrina Keuning (13:15):
But Quad Cities can be positioned as such a
powerhouse, given that we arealong two states.
We kind of get the benefits andperks of, you know the Iowa side
, the Illinois side and these,you know five plus dozens of
smaller communities all workingtogether as one larger, like I
(13:37):
said, powerhouse really.
I mean we have all of these,all this effort, all these minds
, you know initiatives like whatyou're doing, all together for
the benefit of this by-statecommunity.
Can you talk a little bit about?
You know just the benefits ofhaving that Iowa and that
Illinois.
You know kind of give and takeworking together, collaborating.
Rene Gellerman (13:59):
Yeah, I think you know, for someone who lives
here, you have these uniquecharacteristics of these
different communities and youcan decide what you want to live
in, sort of the culture thatyou want for your community,
which I think is fabulous,related to my work and you look
about at education.
You know, with communities thathave one school district it
(14:24):
would probably be easier to kindof align efforts and resources.
But the benefit we have is whenyou have we have eight major
school districts in Scott andRock Island County when we can
bring all those school districtstogether to talk about their
challenges and theiropportunities.
Sometimes they're a little bitdifferent, so they might be a
(14:45):
challenge in one state and moreof an opportunity in the other.
It's an opportunity.
It's a situation where peoplecan talk about best practices
and share them, and they do thatin this region and we see that
we also see in my work, and it'snot just in education.
We also, as I mentioned, wework in workforce and financial
(15:07):
security and health too.
But stakeholders in this spacethat are really trying to
improve lives, give a hand up insituations, really understand
that all boats will rise, and sowe have superintendents and
leaders in this community thatrealize that we may need to
(15:28):
invest more in one area of ourregion versus the other on a
particular initiative, becausewe need that boat to rise in
that space.
I think that's a real asset.
One of the unique things thatUnited Way has been able to
create related to back toeducation is this education
council, which has thosesuperintendents.
(15:50):
We have business leaders on thateducation council, we have
other funders on that counciland we have an agreement where
all academic records from publicschools goes into a data
warehouse at St AmbroseUniversity.
So now we bring in St AmbroseUniversity asa partner too to
(16:13):
analyze the student data, totell us where we are in
different milestones ofachievement, so that we can be
faster and more nimble than anyother region that doesn't have
that kind of asset.
Because what you otherwisewould have to do Katrina is you
really have to wait until thestate gets all their reports and
(16:33):
then they report them back outwhich is great, but that is
probably an 18-month lag backout, which is great, but that is
probably an 18-month lag.
But here in the Quad Citieswe're able to assess that
quickly and we did that duringCOVID with the pandemic, and we
were able to be very flexibleand nimble, and immediately, as
soon as we could, we gotvolunteers in the schools to
start helping kids get back ontrack.
Katrina Keuning (16:56):
And so one of the other like challenges that
you guys have identified is theattendance.
The attendance issue and youknow, again, that's that's
something that I think familiesand kids see and struggle with
throughout the country.
So here in the Quad Cities, youknow, trying to talk to kids
that are in the school systemyou mentioned, before we started
(17:17):
this podcast, middle schoolers,getting their input and letting
them be part of the solutionCan you kind of talk about that
goal and how you guys areworking to tackle that?
Rene Gellerman (17:27):
Yeah, you know you can turn on the news or pick
up any newspaper across thecountry and you're going to read
or hear about the challengesthat our students are facing.
You hear a lot more aboutmental health issues and
attendance is an issue, like yousaid, across the globe and it
(17:48):
really has gotten worse sincethe pandemic.
And you can Google why isattendance increasing and you
can find out all these reasons.
And if you ask parents orcounselors or teachers, all
those reasons that you'veGoogled are you're going to see.
But what we thought we would dohere is how do we put our
middle school students in aposition to shape any solutions
(18:14):
that may be needed to improveattendance or improve their
school experiences, and wewanted to give them the
opportunity to really leveragetheir own power, and so we are
coordinating what we're callingstudent voices.
And, if you remember, backseveral years ago, our region
(18:34):
did an initiative called theQuad Cities Big Table.
Katrina Keuning (18:37):
I was just thinking that that's so funny
that popped into my head.
Rene Gellerman (18:41):
Yeah, it was so successful.
We had 5,000 people that gottogether on one day, and so
Student Voices is really modeledat the Big Table.
So today, this week, we're at13 middle schools and 1,000 kids
are around tables 10 kids to atable.
We have volunteers thatvolunteered, about 100
(19:01):
volunteers that are facilitatinga conversation, asking sixth,
seventh and eighth graders whatmatters to them, what are the
challenges they see in theirschool.
But we also want to make surethat we're not just creating
lists for community leaders orteachers or schools to do so.
We're asking them what can youdo as a student in the school?
(19:22):
What would you be willing to do?
What could you do, eitherindividually or with a group of
friends, to improve school?
And I'm so excited we werepartnering also with Western
Illinois University.
Who's going to analyze thatdata for us?
I'm excited to see what thekids come up with.
Analyze that data for us.
I'm excited to see what thekids come up with.
(19:44):
And on our side, you know we'vebeen raising money to help fund
this initiative, because we'rereally looking for some key
themes that we can help realizeand maybe even involve some
middle school students to helprealize some of those solutions
that they come up with.
Katrina Keuning (19:58):
They are like the next generation coming up
and I don't know if it's the endof Gen Z or the upcoming of Gen
Alpha, but they are like themost creative and funny and just
wise like kids that I've everseen and I'm really excited to
see what you guys come up with,what they come up with.
Do you have any projection ofwhen that data, when those
(20:22):
answers, will be available forpeople to check out?
Rene Gellerman (20:26):
We're aiming for the end of January, first part
of February.
Katrina Keuning (20:29):
That's great and, like you said, the speed
that you guys are able to workwithin, instead of sending it
off to your state whatever andwaiting for a year and a half
for anything to happen.
So cool.
I mean the assets and that'sone of the things you know
you've mentioned that you guysare working with Western, you
worked with Ambrose like thehigher ed sphere of the Quad
(20:52):
Cities is enormous and that'sone thing that I see just like
anecdotally and that's one thingthat I see just like
anecdotally people like teensthat come here for college.
A lot of times they end upstaying.
They're not from here, but theycame and they found work or
(21:22):
they just liked it or you knowpeople coming to the Quad Cities
and just having that goodexperience as an adult and then
kind of leaking that down intothe middle school age, trying to
foster your voice matters.
Here's what's happening in ourcommunity, you know, bringing
people up to be part of the QuadCities so that they stay and
it's not like a I mean sometimesa boomerang situation happens
(21:42):
but I think the more stock yougive somebody at a young age,
the more they're going to holdon to that and really grow up
feeling that ownership.
You know.
Rene Gellerman (21:52):
I think you're so right.
We have a magnificent, diversepost-secondary education system,
lots of opportunities, options,depending on what you're
interested in.
They also sit on our educationcouncil, as do the trades and
unions.
I keep talking about theeducation council but it's such
(22:13):
a valuable asset and it'scoveted across the country and
I've realized in my time I'vebeen at United Way for five
years we haven't done enough torecognize the investment these
individuals have put into oursystem and they come up with
innovative interventions.
Like you know, this focus onliteracy or their student voices
(22:35):
.
And when you talk about collegestudents wanting to stay here,
not only can we embed that askids are growing up and letting
them know that we do care aboutthem, we give their voice a
platform and all of that.
But I don't know if I was incollege and I knew that my
community cared so much aboutkids that they did all this work
, that our kids were a priorityand education was a priority,
(22:59):
I'd want to stay here too.
I'd want to raise my kids here.
I want my kids to grow up in aplace where people care about
them, and I think these kinds ofinvestments of time and people
putting their reputation on theline, for some of this
programming would inspire othersto stay here and live in the
Quad Cities.
Katrina Keuning (23:17):
And taking off your United Way hat.
You've got five kids of yourown you mentioned.
So kudos to you for choosing to, you know, raise them here and
get them involved here.
Why, you know?
Why did you?
What was the?
What was the reason that yousaid the Quad Cities is the
place for me to raise my family?
Rene Gellerman (23:39):
Yeah, Well, a few things.
I came to the Quad Cities foreducation.
I come from a verydysfunctional childhood.
I had lots of newspaper in mylocal community and there was a
(24:11):
little ad in the newspaper thesize of a business card that
said Blackhawk College wasaccepting letters of interest
for scholarships.
So I wrote a letter, not havingany idea what I was doing.
Make a long story short theysent me back a letter and gave
me a $600 scholarship.
I didn't know that $600,.
They sent me back a letter andgave me a $600 scholarship.
I didn't know that $600,.
(24:36):
They probably offered everyone$600.
I'm not sure, but I thought Iwas very special and so I moved
to the Quad Cities.
So that is a link that reallyis really important to me.
So it's probably one of themain reasons why I stayed here,
because I had opportunity hereand I saw different potential
here and it broke kind of myparadigms of the way that I grew
up.
But then my career just tookoff.
I think in the Quad Citiesthere's just so much opportunity
(24:59):
to get plugged into thecommunity and to make a
difference.
So either you do it to your jobI'm lucky to be able to do that
for my job, but I haven'talways had a job like that.
But I've been able to findopportunities to connect and
make a difference, even though Iwasn't working for like a
nonprofit, like UniteAway.
(25:19):
And if you want to lead in anyarea, you have access and
opportunity to do it here.
The competition is different ifyou're in Chicago or even Des
Moines or Kansas City or StLouis.
It's just different.
And I love that about the QuadCities, and my kids do too.
One of our kids is a boomerang,lived in Chicago for eight
(25:43):
years and he's back in the QuadCities and he loves it.
He's involved in all kinds ofthings and he's really making
his way, having able toinfluence different programs and
initiatives on a volunteerbasis, being successful in
business.
I think that that is the bigbig thing.
And then the other you knowit's affordable.
(26:06):
You know it's very affordablefor our kids to live here and
for us.
And you know you can't everforget about the Mississippi
River.
Sometimes I think we take itfor granted, but it is world
renowned.
People come.
I know you know this betterthan I do, katrina, but people
come here just to dip their toein the Mississippi River or to
(26:29):
go on the Sky Bridge and look atit, or cross the iconic I-74
Bridge there's not another onelike it in the whole world
Another project that inspires methat that project got done, and
so there's all kinds of reasonsto stay here, and so there's
all kinds of reasons to stayhere.
Katrina Keuning (26:44):
That is so interesting.
So you are one of the realworld stories of somebody who
came here for, you know, acollege or an opportunity.
You know a college experienceor an opportunity and you stayed
and you know you found the QuadCities was going to be the best
, the best place to call home.
Rene Gellerman (26:59):
Yes.
Katrina Keuning (27:00):
I love that.
We do see that all the time and, like you said, visitors come
in and they want to know, youknow what, what can we do while
we're in town, whether you know,coming to our destination
centers.
We love to just have thatconversation with people because
it allows us to ask thequestion well, what are you
interested in?
And then we can kind of divedown into the specifics and you
(27:21):
know, we, you know, being this,this bi-state market, where we
have the natural asset of theMississippi River and the
innovation of things like theI-74 pedestrian access bridge,
we can find something foreveryone and it is such a
blessing to be able to live inthat space.
And, like you said, it's easyto take for granted.
(27:42):
So to remind ourselves inconversations, even like this,
or, you know, listening to thispodcast, of all the things that
are at our fingertips, and nottake for granted, but to take
advantage of it while we're hereand it's literally in our
backyard, it's, it's so we're sofortunate to have that
opportunity.
Rene Gellerman (28:02):
We are All of our arts and culture.
You know emerging musicians andblues.
You know the parades of Mercadoon Fifth.
That was just extraordinary.
Katrina Keuning (28:15):
Yes.
Rene Gellerman (28:16):
Bix.
You know the Bix actually thisyear partnered with us, united
Way.
So here we have a runningorganization partnered with
United Way because they werereally trying to find a way to
activate more young people intothe race.
Yeah, and they wanted to get tokids who maybe wouldn't
(28:36):
necessarily be able to becausethey didn't have the shoes.
So they partnered with us andwe were able to connect them
with kids that really neededgood quality shoes.
So those kids got toparticipate in the Vicks for the
very first time and you know itwas just fabulous.
But all of these the you knowJohn Deere classic or the
(28:56):
stuff's going on at TBK, thereare lots of things to do,
whether you're a visitor or justliving here.
All these assets are greatexposure and gives you something
to do on the weekends andreally makes me really proud to
live here.
Katrina Keuning (29:10):
What is like?
What is your ideal weekend ofQuad City?
Things you know, like a placeto eat, a thing to do, what's
your go-to?
Rene Gellerman (29:20):
Well, I hate to say one place where I go to eat
oh my gosh, somebody's going toget mad at me, it is hard.
Yes, yes.
Well, I think most people seemy husband and I at Monarch a
lot.
It's not too far from our house, it's very convenient, it's
local, they have great servicethere you can't.
(29:41):
The food is fabulous and easyto park and all that stuff.
So I guess I would say Monarchis one of our staples.
My husband and I are big musicfan.
I have for years and years, andmy music taste has evolved over
the years, but we still enjoyalternating currents.
(30:01):
So proud of the downtownpartnership that really came up
with that idea and they stuckwith it through tough times and
it was amazing.
Now a bi-state regional arts,culture, comedy, all that stuff
we love, but music is a realthing.
So we'll go anywhere from.
We love the grape life whereyou just have like a one or two
(30:24):
person music, or we'll go downto Common Chord to listen to
something, or we might end up atthe Adler or the Capitol
Theater to hear some great musicas well, or a big concert over
at the Mark.
Katrina Keuning (30:39):
Yes, all great things.
And yeah, like I shared earlier, I have two young sons, so you
know pre-kids, you know going tothe Adler and you know things
like the Capitol are super funand Redstone Room, that kind of
thing.
My husband's a musician so I'mdefinitely interested in the
(31:01):
like local music scene and nowwith the boys, I find one of my
favorite things to do is to takethem to Tangled Wood during the
summer because they do thoseFriday night concerts and
there's just like room to run,you know.
Rene Gellerman (31:15):
Yes, it's fabulous back there, yeah.
Katrina Keuning (31:18):
That's what I love.
I love the.
You know the diverseopportunities and experiences
that you know we're offering toour kids and you know, hey, you
can't, you can't go and sit in abar or a cocktail lounge at age
four, but we can take you toTangledwood and get you an
experience of music really young, at an age appropriate place.
Rene Gellerman (31:37):
So they've got that big screen back there too,
and so we've gone there actuallyto watch baseball games.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
So on Sundays they'll have thegames playing.
So it's fabulous there.
Katrina Keuning (31:47):
Opportunities are endless and so so kids
united um.
Circling back to to your book,um.
Walk me through the the how toum.
How are we?
How are we getting our hands onthe book?
How are we distributing Um?
How do we meet this goal ofgetting 3000 kids this book?
How are we distributing?
How do we meet this goal ofgetting 3,000 kids this book?
Rene Gellerman (32:09):
Well, I'm grateful to have the opportunity
to talk about it.
The book is one piece of awhole bigger literacy campaign.
We're really raising money aswell.
We have a goal to raise$200,000 so that we can
accelerate some interventionsand programs.
But the book if somebody.
Holidays are coming up, I hopepeople pick up the book for
gifts at Christmas.
It's a feel-good book with agreat message, I think, and they
(32:33):
can buy it at unitedwayqcorg orany online bookstore or they
can contribute to our campaign.
And the other thing is we'restill looking for volunteers who
will read, sit with the child,listen to them, read once a week
for 30 minutes.
It's so easy and it buildsconfidence in this child and
(32:57):
gives them an opportunity topractice.
Katrina Keuning (32:59):
Well, I really appreciate that.
You know you're here kind oftalking about and leading the
efforts and you know, combatingthe literacy issues here, kind
of talking about and leading theefforts and, you know,
combating the literacy issuesthat everybody is facing.
So really excited for thisproject, definitely want to help
be part of the solution here.
And is there, is there anythingelse people can look forward to
as far as what Kids United isis up to over the next, you know
(33:21):
, six 12 months?
Rene Gellerman (33:23):
We're going to do in March is Dr Seuss's
birthday, and so we're going todo a big reading week across the
Quad Cities.
We're going to ask celebritiesand regular people like me to
participate and just go in andmake a statement and really
promote reading proficiency.
The other thing that I thinkmight be interesting, that I
(33:46):
feel like I'd be really remissif I didn't mention, because we
recently received a milliondollar grant, a challenge grant,
from the Balmer Group, and soit's money that's coming from
outside the Quad Cities toinside our region to really to
be used to remove the barriersthat our kids are facing to be
(34:08):
successful in school, and so weannounced this a few weeks ago,
and we have a program calledUnited for Schools and it's in
Title I campuses, which arelow-income schools, and it's
really all about activating thecommunity in the school.
We're serving as sort of aconcierge to provide community
(34:28):
resources inside the buildingsto the children and the families
, and I think it's another thingthat differentiates our region
from other communities thatwe're actually doing this
public-private partnership rightin our school buildings,
because we cannot leave thefuture of our kids just to the
schools, the teachers.
(34:49):
It really requires all hands ondeck, and I'm proud of our
United for Schools program.
I'd encourage people to go toour website and read about that
as well.
But really, as a region, weshould be celebrating.
We qualified for amillion-dollar grant to help
more of our kids be successful,not only in school, but in life.
Katrina Keuning (35:11):
That is huge and, as a mother kind of
starting to navigate the schoolsystems, that has me so excited
and really hopeful for what's tocome for my boys.
So that's so exciting and thankyou for again helping to lead
the charge in this.
So I'll make sure to link thewebsite in the description of
(35:33):
this podcast.
So, whatever platform you'relistening to, go ahead and check
the description.
So unitedwayqcorg slash kidsunited is going to be probably
your base place to start divinginto all this information.
I saw that the the book is forsale on.
You know it's going to beprobably your base place to
start diving into all thisinformation.
I saw that the book is for saleon.
You know it's easy to get.
It's on Amazon.
I saw it on other places, soit's definitely easy to get your
(35:53):
hands on.
So thank you again, renee, andper tradition on this podcast, I
would love to have you fill inthe blank QC.
That's where.
Rene Gellerman (36:05):
Well, I have to stick with the theme of my, my
book.
So I'm going to say QC, that'swhere kids have the power to
make their dreams come true.
Katrina Keuning (36:16):
I love it.
Thank you so much for your timetoday, I wishing you all the
best in this and looking forwardto seeing what's ahead for kids
United.
Rene Gellerman (36:25):
Thank you so much, katrina, it was fun.
Outro (36:27):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(36:48):
Message and data rates mayapply.
If you want to lead in any area, you have
access and opportunity to do it.
Here the competition isdifferent if you're in Chicago
or even Des Moines or KansasCity or St Louis.
It's just different and I lovethat about the Quad Cities and
my kids do too.
Intro (00:17):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Katrina Keuning (00:40):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm Katrina, yourhost, and today I am with Renee
Gellerman, the United WayPresident and CEO.
Renee hello, how are you?
Rene Gellerman (00:48):
Hi, katrina, I'm great Thank you.
Katrina Keuning (00:50):
Thanks for joining this podcast.
We were talking a little bitbefore we started recording and
there's a lot of reallyimportant things going on that
the United Way is tackling, thatthe United Way is tackling.
Renee, you just authored yourfirst book, Adventures of Kids
(01:12):
United, the Glass Bridge.
I want to just jump right in.
Why did you write the book andhow does that kind of intersect
with United Way's mission inwhat you're trying to achieve?
Rene Gellerman (01:22):
Well with my work with United Way.
It's really shown me thepotential that kids have when
they're supported and encouraged.
I happen to be a volunteerthrough our Read United program,
so every week I go in andvolunteer to read with a student
for 30 minutes and I reallybetter understood the potential
(01:44):
that kids have, and sometimesyou don't know you have
potential until someone tellsyou that you do, and so my book
is really inspired by all that.
I want to bring a message tolife that was fun and
adventurous, the kids couldrelate to, while also showing
them that their unique talentsare really their own superpowers
.
Katrina Keuning (02:03):
So that's kind of what the book is about.
So there's it's five kids fromthe Quad Cities and they all.
I read the description.
I haven't read the book yet, soI want to get my hands on a
copy, and I've got two littleboys of my own that I would love
to share this with.
Rene Gellerman (02:16):
I'm going to get you a copy, Katrina.
Katrina Keuning (02:18):
Yes, thank you.
Rene Gellerman (02:25):
Yeah, so tell me a little bit about the kids in
the book without spoiling it.
Well, there are five kids, andthose kids are actually based on
my own children.
Each character in the bookrepresents the unique talents
and personalities of my own kids, and the book is really all
about teaching kids that theyhave their own unique strengths
and I call them superpowers.
In the book and through thestory, they work together and
(02:49):
they learn, being kind and bybelieving in themselves that
they can overcome any obstacle,and so I think the story is
really a fun and engaging wayfor kids to learn that life
skills that they need to grow upto be confident leaders and
change makers.
Katrina Keuning (03:08):
For any Quad citizens listening.
Are there any familiarlandmarks, quad City-isms that
appear throughout the book?
Rene Gellerman (03:17):
Yeah, so not only my five kids who are raised
here in the Quad Cities, butthis book is actually called the
Adventures of Kids United theGlass Bridge.
The Glass Bridge, theinspiration was the Sky Bridge,
and I know there are some youknow goofy things said about the
(03:39):
Sky Bridge, like the Sky Bridgeto nowhere and stuff.
But I've been around for awhile so I know the history of
that Sky Bridge and so it'sreally symbolic.
There's a story story behindthat.
Maybe you and I can get to it,but it's the sky bridge that the
kids see and they're inspiredby and they find their way to
the sky bridge and it's amystery, uh bridge.
(03:59):
They cross over and they end upopening the door at the end and
they find a hovering spaceship.
Katrina Keuning (04:06):
Oh, that's my kind of book.
I love it.
Yeah, the Sky Bridge to kind ofgo on that topic briefly, the
Sky Bridge is quite an assethere and I know what you're
saying.
There's there is some likechitter chatter about what is it
and you know the purpose behindit and that kind of thing which
(04:29):
I would.
I want to hear your, your takeon it and what you know, because
what I know, when I was like avery young teen, I believe, my
family was from here and I didnot live here yet in the Quad
Cities and I would come and Iremember my cousin told me about
the Sky Bridge that had justfinished building in Davenport
(04:49):
and she's like I have to takeyou to go see the Sky Bridge.
It's colorful, you can, it's alookout, you can see the whole
town.
Come with me and see it.
And so it was an adventure.
We went.
I'd never seen it before, I'dnever seen anything like it
before, never seen it before,I'd never seen anything like it
before, and we really loved itand we had a great time.
And you know, as the years havegone on, I mean it's it's become
not only like a visual asset,it's kind of like a recognizable
(05:12):
feature of our community, ourQuad Cities, but it's also been
used.
It's been programmed.
I mean Alternating Currentsuses it and it's like I said
it's it's a lookout, it's kindof a cool.
It's kind of a cool assetvisually for people to go hey,
you can, you can climb up inthere and you can look this way,
you can look that way, you canget some great photography.
(05:34):
I've seen some really greatphotography out of that bridge.
So it is a cultural asset.
It's something that we like to,you know, look at as far as
like our arts and culture scenetoo.
It's, it's an art piece, ifnothing else.
I'd love to hear the backgroundof it too.
Rene Gellerman (05:51):
Well, it's iconic and it's used for event.
You know special events I haveexercised in that sky bridge,
gone up and down the steps onboth sides, walk across stretch,
so there's homecoming picturesare taken in that sky bridge.
It's iconic.
But the back history and whyit's included in my book, beyond
(06:13):
this iconic and recognizablestructure, is the symbolism that
relates to the theme of thebook.
So that sky bridge really wasthe result of a small group of
people, regular people like youand me, who cared about their
community, and they cametogether and talked about how do
(06:33):
we make our downtown better?
And this small group of peoplereally were the drivers of the
creation of the sky bridge andthey had to, as part of the
referendum funding, the statefunding from the state of Iowa
for River Vision.
That actually was the fundingthat helped create the Figge Art
(06:54):
Museum, the redevelopment andthe rehab of the Redstone
Building, which is where CommonCore is located, and that Sky
Bridge was all part of this andit is a lookout point.
It's magnificent views of theMississippi River, right where
the Mississippi turns.
You can see both directions.
And it means a lot to mebecause I was around in sort of
(07:18):
this community service role andI worked at the chamber at the
time when all this happened soto see the community come
together, just residents whocare about the future of their
region, they care about qualityof life.
They understood the economicripple effect that development
would have on the MississippiRiver.
(07:38):
I think that bridge is sosymbolic that I wanted to use it
as part of my story and I knowkids won't know that, but for me
I wanted to connect it andhonestly I'm paying tribute to
those people.
I know a lot of the people thatreally were on the forefront of
that first round ofrehabilitation and enhancing of
(08:01):
our downtown Davenport.
Katrina Keuning (08:03):
And the fact that you were able to work in
rotation and enhancing of ourdowntown Davenport and the fact
that you were able to work in anasset and a piece of the
community that, like adults,will know.
Like you said, the kids don'tknow but the adults do, and I
think half of the psychology ofgetting a children's book in
somebody's hand is trying toappeal to their parents too, so
that they'll pick it up and go.
Hey, I know that thing.
Let's take a look at this.
And this book is driving a muchlarger purpose, and would you
(08:26):
talk to us about the initiativewith getting these books into
the hands of as many secondgraders as possible?
Rene Gellerman (08:34):
Yes, I'd love to .
So at Unite Away, we reallymobilize people and resources so
that everyone can thrive, andwe focus in three very specific
areas, and that would be youthopportunity and education.
The second one is financialsecurity and workforce and the
third one is a healthy community.
(08:55):
And in the area of educationand youth opportunity, we want
to make sure that the QuadCities is the best it can be, so
every kid has an opportunity tobe successful at whatever they
want to do, and literacy is acore piece of that.
So you look across the globeand reading proficiency.
(09:18):
There's a milestone it's thirdgrade, that up until third grade
, kids are learning to read, andthen at third grade that up
until third grade, kids arelearning to read, and then at
third grade, they have to readto be able to learn.
And so we work really closelywith all of our school districts
in Scott County and Rock IslandCounty to identify challenges
that we're seeing in the schoolsand opportunities, and literacy
(09:41):
is one of those opportunities.
The pandemic really dampened theprogress of kids academically
everywhere.
But what makes the Quad Citiesdifferent is that we do have
these key leaders.
All these superintendents areactually working together across
cities, across the region andthis is really unusual we're
(10:02):
actually contacted frequently tokind of describe the model and
use it as a best practice acrossthe Quad City or across the
country, and we really land onliteracy being a key milestone
that we want to work hard atimproving in the Quad Cities.
So the book really is to shinea light and raise awareness of
(10:23):
the importance of readingproficiency.
It's the biggest indicatorwhether somebody is going to
graduate from high school.
It's the biggest indicator ontheir lifetime earnings.
It's the biggest indicator ofwhether they're going to change
a generation trajectory if theycome from a lower income poverty
area, and so we've got this bigfocus on it.
(10:44):
And so we're trying to sellenough books and raise enough
money that we can put this bookinto the hands of 3000 second
graders, that's every secondgrader in the Quad Cities.
All the proceeds from the saleof this book I am donating back
to United Way to fund literacyprograms.
Katrina Keuning (11:04):
And those literacy programs like I didn't
know until today when I startedlooking at unitedwayqcorg to see
those stats.
I mean it's staggering.
You know the fact that you putit into words as far as third
before third grade, you learn toread.
Third before third grade, youlearn to read.
And after you read, to learn,that's.
(11:26):
That's so eye opening.
And that that second grade mark, what?
What is it?
So 75% of students who strugglein third grade will continue to
struggle into high school.
Rene Gellerman (11:42):
Well, it makes sense.
If you can't read well, it'shard to comprehend what you're
learning.
Katrina Keuning (11:48):
Absolutely, and so it's like you and others who
are behind you in this.
You know Kids United literacyeffort.
You've identified the key timeto get those.
You know get those books inkids' hands.
You know second grade andearlier devoting the time
talking about it.
You know getting everybody onboard and aware.
(12:09):
I love that you and your teamare being like thought leaders
and and leaders in the countryof how to tackle this problem,
because it's not just a QuadCities problem.
You know it's something thatthe entire nation.
Rene Gellerman (12:25):
Yeah, it really is and the fact that we do have
people here in the Quad Citiesthat are activating to address
this.
Not only are we just doing thisbook, but right now we have
about 800 people in the QuadCities that meet with a student
kindergarten through fourthgrade every week for 30 minutes
(12:47):
to read with them, to help themget caught up.
We've improved readingproficiency about 15% since 2021
.
And so we have a community thatcares about their kids.
We want to be a standoutcommunity that prioritizes
education and people are willingto give their time, talent and
(13:09):
their money to help us, you know, improve those conditions for
our kids.
Katrina Keuning (13:15):
But Quad Cities can be positioned as such a
powerhouse, given that we arealong two states.
We kind of get the benefits andperks of, you know the Iowa side
, the Illinois side and these,you know five plus dozens of
smaller communities all workingtogether as one larger, like I
(13:37):
said, powerhouse really.
I mean we have all of these,all this effort, all these minds
, you know initiatives like whatyou're doing, all together for
the benefit of this by-statecommunity.
Can you talk a little bit about?
You know just the benefits ofhaving that Iowa and that
Illinois.
You know kind of give and takeworking together, collaborating.
Rene Gellerman (13:59):
Yeah, I think you know, for someone who lives
here, you have these uniquecharacteristics of these
different communities and youcan decide what you want to live
in, sort of the culture thatyou want for your community,
which I think is fabulous,related to my work and you look
about at education.
You know, with communities thathave one school district it
(14:24):
would probably be easier to kindof align efforts and resources.
But the benefit we have is whenyou have we have eight major
school districts in Scott andRock Island County when we can
bring all those school districtstogether to talk about their
challenges and theiropportunities.
Sometimes they're a little bitdifferent, so they might be a
(14:45):
challenge in one state and moreof an opportunity in the other.
It's an opportunity.
It's a situation where peoplecan talk about best practices
and share them, and they do thatin this region and we see that
we also see in my work, and it'snot just in education.
We also, as I mentioned, wework in workforce and financial
(15:07):
security and health too.
But stakeholders in this spacethat are really trying to
improve lives, give a hand up insituations, really understand
that all boats will rise, and sowe have superintendents and
leaders in this community thatrealize that we may need to
(15:28):
invest more in one area of ourregion versus the other on a
particular initiative, becausewe need that boat to rise in
that space.
I think that's a real asset.
One of the unique things thatUnited Way has been able to
create related to back toeducation is this education
council, which has thosesuperintendents.
(15:50):
We have business leaders on thateducation council, we have
other funders on that counciland we have an agreement where
all academic records from publicschools goes into a data
warehouse at St AmbroseUniversity.
So now we bring in St AmbroseUniversity asa partner too to
(16:13):
analyze the student data, totell us where we are in
different milestones ofachievement, so that we can be
faster and more nimble than anyother region that doesn't have
that kind of asset.
Because what you otherwisewould have to do Katrina is you
really have to wait until thestate gets all their reports and
(16:33):
then they report them back outwhich is great, but that is
probably an 18-month lag backout, which is great, but that is
probably an 18-month lag.
But here in the Quad Citieswe're able to assess that
quickly and we did that duringCOVID with the pandemic, and we
were able to be very flexibleand nimble, and immediately, as
soon as we could, we gotvolunteers in the schools to
start helping kids get back ontrack.
Katrina Keuning (16:56):
And so one of the other like challenges that
you guys have identified is theattendance.
The attendance issue and youknow, again, that's that's
something that I think familiesand kids see and struggle with
throughout the country.
So here in the Quad Cities, youknow, trying to talk to kids
that are in the school systemyou mentioned, before we started
(17:17):
this podcast, middle schoolers,getting their input and letting
them be part of the solutionCan you kind of talk about that
goal and how you guys areworking to tackle that?
Rene Gellerman (17:27):
Yeah, you know you can turn on the news or pick
up any newspaper across thecountry and you're going to read
or hear about the challengesthat our students are facing.
You hear a lot more aboutmental health issues and
attendance is an issue, like yousaid, across the globe and it
(17:48):
really has gotten worse sincethe pandemic.
And you can Google why isattendance increasing and you
can find out all these reasons.
And if you ask parents orcounselors or teachers, all
those reasons that you'veGoogled are you're going to see.
But what we thought we would dohere is how do we put our
middle school students in aposition to shape any solutions
(18:14):
that may be needed to improveattendance or improve their
school experiences, and wewanted to give them the
opportunity to really leveragetheir own power, and so we are
coordinating what we're callingstudent voices.
And, if you remember, backseveral years ago, our region
(18:34):
did an initiative called theQuad Cities Big Table.
Katrina Keuning (18:37):
I was just thinking that that's so funny
that popped into my head.
Rene Gellerman (18:41):
Yeah, it was so successful.
We had 5,000 people that gottogether on one day, and so
Student Voices is really modeledat the Big Table.
So today, this week, we're at13 middle schools and 1,000 kids
are around tables 10 kids to atable.
We have volunteers thatvolunteered, about 100
(19:01):
volunteers that are facilitatinga conversation, asking sixth,
seventh and eighth graders whatmatters to them, what are the
challenges they see in theirschool.
But we also want to make surethat we're not just creating
lists for community leaders orteachers or schools to do so.
We're asking them what can youdo as a student in the school?
(19:22):
What would you be willing to do?
What could you do, eitherindividually or with a group of
friends, to improve school?
And I'm so excited we werepartnering also with Western
Illinois University.
Who's going to analyze thatdata for us?
I'm excited to see what thekids come up with.
Analyze that data for us.
I'm excited to see what thekids come up with.
(19:44):
And on our side, you know we'vebeen raising money to help fund
this initiative, because we'rereally looking for some key
themes that we can help realizeand maybe even involve some
middle school students to helprealize some of those solutions
that they come up with.
Katrina Keuning (19:58):
They are like the next generation coming up
and I don't know if it's the endof Gen Z or the upcoming of Gen
Alpha, but they are like themost creative and funny and just
wise like kids that I've everseen and I'm really excited to
see what you guys come up with,what they come up with.
Do you have any projection ofwhen that data, when those
(20:22):
answers, will be available forpeople to check out?
Rene Gellerman (20:26):
We're aiming for the end of January, first part
of February.
Katrina Keuning (20:29):
That's great and, like you said, the speed
that you guys are able to workwithin, instead of sending it
off to your state whatever andwaiting for a year and a half
for anything to happen.
So cool.
I mean the assets and that'sone of the things you know
you've mentioned that you guysare working with Western, you
worked with Ambrose like thehigher ed sphere of the Quad
(20:52):
Cities is enormous and that'sone thing that I see just like
anecdotally and that's one thingthat I see just like
anecdotally people like teensthat come here for college.
A lot of times they end upstaying.
They're not from here, but theycame and they found work or
(21:22):
they just liked it or you knowpeople coming to the Quad Cities
and just having that goodexperience as an adult and then
kind of leaking that down intothe middle school age, trying to
foster your voice matters.
Here's what's happening in ourcommunity, you know, bringing
people up to be part of the QuadCities so that they stay and
it's not like a I mean sometimesa boomerang situation happens
(21:42):
but I think the more stock yougive somebody at a young age,
the more they're going to holdon to that and really grow up
feeling that ownership.
You know.
Rene Gellerman (21:52):
I think you're so right.
We have a magnificent, diversepost-secondary education system,
lots of opportunities, options,depending on what you're
interested in.
They also sit on our educationcouncil, as do the trades and
unions.
I keep talking about theeducation council but it's such
(22:13):
a valuable asset and it'scoveted across the country and
I've realized in my time I'vebeen at United Way for five
years we haven't done enough torecognize the investment these
individuals have put into oursystem and they come up with
innovative interventions.
Like you know, this focus onliteracy or their student voices
(22:35):
.
And when you talk about collegestudents wanting to stay here,
not only can we embed that askids are growing up and letting
them know that we do care aboutthem, we give their voice a
platform and all of that.
But I don't know if I was incollege and I knew that my
community cared so much aboutkids that they did all this work
, that our kids were a priorityand education was a priority,
(22:59):
I'd want to stay here too.
I'd want to raise my kids here.
I want my kids to grow up in aplace where people care about
them, and I think these kinds ofinvestments of time and people
putting their reputation on theline, for some of this
programming would inspire othersto stay here and live in the
Quad Cities.
Katrina Keuning (23:17):
And taking off your United Way hat.
You've got five kids of yourown you mentioned.
So kudos to you for choosing to, you know, raise them here and
get them involved here.
Why, you know?
Why did you?
What was the?
What was the reason that yousaid the Quad Cities is the
place for me to raise my family?
Rene Gellerman (23:39):
Yeah, Well, a few things.
I came to the Quad Cities foreducation.
I come from a verydysfunctional childhood.
I had lots of newspaper in mylocal community and there was a
(24:11):
little ad in the newspaper thesize of a business card that
said Blackhawk College wasaccepting letters of interest
for scholarships.
So I wrote a letter, not havingany idea what I was doing.
Make a long story short theysent me back a letter and gave
me a $600 scholarship.
I didn't know that $600,.
They sent me back a letter andgave me a $600 scholarship.
I didn't know that $600,.
(24:36):
They probably offered everyone$600.
I'm not sure, but I thought Iwas very special and so I moved
to the Quad Cities.
So that is a link that reallyis really important to me.
So it's probably one of themain reasons why I stayed here,
because I had opportunity hereand I saw different potential
here and it broke kind of myparadigms of the way that I grew
up.
But then my career just tookoff.
I think in the Quad Citiesthere's just so much opportunity
(24:59):
to get plugged into thecommunity and to make a
difference.
So either you do it to your jobI'm lucky to be able to do that
for my job, but I haven'talways had a job like that.
But I've been able to findopportunities to connect and
make a difference, even though Iwasn't working for like a
nonprofit, like UniteAway.
(25:19):
And if you want to lead in anyarea, you have access and
opportunity to do it here.
The competition is different ifyou're in Chicago or even Des
Moines or Kansas City or StLouis.
It's just different.
And I love that about the QuadCities, and my kids do too.
One of our kids is a boomerang,lived in Chicago for eight
(25:43):
years and he's back in the QuadCities and he loves it.
He's involved in all kinds ofthings and he's really making
his way, having able toinfluence different programs and
initiatives on a volunteerbasis, being successful in
business.
I think that that is the bigbig thing.
And then the other you knowit's affordable.
(26:06):
You know it's very affordablefor our kids to live here and
for us.
And you know you can't everforget about the Mississippi
River.
Sometimes I think we take itfor granted, but it is world
renowned.
People come.
I know you know this betterthan I do, katrina, but people
come here just to dip their toein the Mississippi River or to
(26:29):
go on the Sky Bridge and look atit, or cross the iconic I-74
Bridge there's not another onelike it in the whole world
Another project that inspires methat that project got done, and
so there's all kinds of reasonsto stay here, and so there's
all kinds of reasons to stayhere.
Katrina Keuning (26:44):
That is so interesting.
So you are one of the realworld stories of somebody who
came here for, you know, acollege or an opportunity.
You know a college experienceor an opportunity and you stayed
and you know you found the QuadCities was going to be the best
, the best place to call home.
Rene Gellerman (26:59):
Yes.
Katrina Keuning (27:00):
I love that.
We do see that all the time and, like you said, visitors come
in and they want to know, youknow what, what can we do while
we're in town, whether you know,coming to our destination
centers.
We love to just have thatconversation with people because
it allows us to ask thequestion well, what are you
interested in?
And then we can kind of divedown into the specifics and you
(27:21):
know, we, you know, being this,this bi-state market, where we
have the natural asset of theMississippi River and the
innovation of things like theI-74 pedestrian access bridge,
we can find something foreveryone and it is such a
blessing to be able to live inthat space.
And, like you said, it's easyto take for granted.
(27:42):
So to remind ourselves inconversations, even like this,
or, you know, listening to thispodcast, of all the things that
are at our fingertips, and nottake for granted, but to take
advantage of it while we're hereand it's literally in our
backyard, it's, it's so we're sofortunate to have that
opportunity.
Rene Gellerman (28:02):
We are All of our arts and culture.
You know emerging musicians andblues.
You know the parades of Mercadoon Fifth.
That was just extraordinary.
Katrina Keuning (28:15):
Yes.
Rene Gellerman (28:16):
Bix.
You know the Bix actually thisyear partnered with us, united
Way.
So here we have a runningorganization partnered with
United Way because they werereally trying to find a way to
activate more young people intothe race.
Yeah, and they wanted to get tokids who maybe wouldn't
(28:36):
necessarily be able to becausethey didn't have the shoes.
So they partnered with us andwe were able to connect them
with kids that really neededgood quality shoes.
So those kids got toparticipate in the Vicks for the
very first time and you know itwas just fabulous.
But all of these the you knowJohn Deere classic or the
(28:56):
stuff's going on at TBK, thereare lots of things to do,
whether you're a visitor or justliving here.
All these assets are greatexposure and gives you something
to do on the weekends andreally makes me really proud to
live here.
Katrina Keuning (29:10):
What is like?
What is your ideal weekend ofQuad City?
Things you know, like a placeto eat, a thing to do, what's
your go-to?
Rene Gellerman (29:20):
Well, I hate to say one place where I go to eat
oh my gosh, somebody's going toget mad at me, it is hard.
Yes, yes.
Well, I think most people seemy husband and I at Monarch a
lot.
It's not too far from our house, it's very convenient, it's
local, they have great servicethere you can't.
(29:41):
The food is fabulous and easyto park and all that stuff.
So I guess I would say Monarchis one of our staples.
My husband and I are big musicfan.
I have for years and years, andmy music taste has evolved over
the years, but we still enjoyalternating currents.
(30:01):
So proud of the downtownpartnership that really came up
with that idea and they stuckwith it through tough times and
it was amazing.
Now a bi-state regional arts,culture, comedy, all that stuff
we love, but music is a realthing.
So we'll go anywhere from.
We love the grape life whereyou just have like a one or two
(30:24):
person music, or we'll go downto Common Chord to listen to
something, or we might end up atthe Adler or the Capitol
Theater to hear some great musicas well, or a big concert over
at the Mark.
Katrina Keuning (30:39):
Yes, all great things.
And yeah, like I shared earlier, I have two young sons, so you
know pre-kids, you know going tothe Adler and you know things
like the Capitol are super funand Redstone Room, that kind of
thing.
My husband's a musician so I'mdefinitely interested in the
(31:01):
like local music scene and nowwith the boys, I find one of my
favorite things to do is to takethem to Tangled Wood during the
summer because they do thoseFriday night concerts and
there's just like room to run,you know.
Rene Gellerman (31:15):
Yes, it's fabulous back there, yeah.
Katrina Keuning (31:18):
That's what I love.
I love the.
You know the diverseopportunities and experiences
that you know we're offering toour kids and you know, hey, you
can't, you can't go and sit in abar or a cocktail lounge at age
four, but we can take you toTangledwood and get you an
experience of music really young, at an age appropriate place.
Rene Gellerman (31:37):
So they've got that big screen back there too,
and so we've gone there actuallyto watch baseball games.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
So on Sundays they'll have thegames playing.
So it's fabulous there.
Katrina Keuning (31:47):
Opportunities are endless and so so kids
united um.
Circling back to to your book,um.
Walk me through the the how toum.
How are we?
How are we getting our hands onthe book?
How are we distributing Um?
How do we meet this goal ofgetting 3000 kids this book?
How are we distributing?
How do we meet this goal ofgetting 3,000 kids this book?
Rene Gellerman (32:09):
Well, I'm grateful to have the opportunity
to talk about it.
The book is one piece of awhole bigger literacy campaign.
We're really raising money aswell.
We have a goal to raise$200,000 so that we can
accelerate some interventionsand programs.
But the book if somebody.
Holidays are coming up, I hopepeople pick up the book for
gifts at Christmas.
It's a feel-good book with agreat message, I think, and they
(32:33):
can buy it at unitedwayqcorg orany online bookstore or they
can contribute to our campaign.
And the other thing is we'restill looking for volunteers who
will read, sit with the child,listen to them, read once a week
for 30 minutes.
It's so easy and it buildsconfidence in this child and
(32:57):
gives them an opportunity topractice.
Katrina Keuning (32:59):
Well, I really appreciate that.
You know you're here kind oftalking about and leading the
efforts and you know, combatingthe literacy issues here, kind
of talking about and leading theefforts and, you know,
combating the literacy issuesthat everybody is facing.
So really excited for thisproject, definitely want to help
be part of the solution here.
And is there, is there anythingelse people can look forward to
as far as what Kids United isis up to over the next, you know
(33:21):
, six 12 months?
Rene Gellerman (33:23):
We're going to do in March is Dr Seuss's
birthday, and so we're going todo a big reading week across the
Quad Cities.
We're going to ask celebritiesand regular people like me to
participate and just go in andmake a statement and really
promote reading proficiency.
The other thing that I thinkmight be interesting, that I
(33:46):
feel like I'd be really remissif I didn't mention, because we
recently received a milliondollar grant, a challenge grant,
from the Balmer Group, and soit's money that's coming from
outside the Quad Cities toinside our region to really to
be used to remove the barriersthat our kids are facing to be
(34:08):
successful in school, and so weannounced this a few weeks ago,
and we have a program calledUnited for Schools and it's in
Title I campuses, which arelow-income schools, and it's
really all about activating thecommunity in the school.
We're serving as sort of aconcierge to provide community
(34:28):
resources inside the buildingsto the children and the families
, and I think it's another thingthat differentiates our region
from other communities thatwe're actually doing this
public-private partnership rightin our school buildings,
because we cannot leave thefuture of our kids just to the
schools, the teachers.
(34:49):
It really requires all hands ondeck, and I'm proud of our
United for Schools program.
I'd encourage people to go toour website and read about that
as well.
But really, as a region, weshould be celebrating.
We qualified for amillion-dollar grant to help
more of our kids be successful,not only in school, but in life.
Katrina Keuning (35:11):
That is huge and, as a mother kind of
starting to navigate the schoolsystems, that has me so excited
and really hopeful for what's tocome for my boys.
So that's so exciting and thankyou for again helping to lead
the charge in this.
So I'll make sure to link thewebsite in the description of
(35:33):
this podcast.
So, whatever platform you'relistening to, go ahead and check
the description.
So unitedwayqcorg slash kidsunited is going to be probably
your base place to start divinginto all this information.
I saw that the the book is forsale on.
You know it's going to beprobably your base place to
start diving into all thisinformation.
I saw that the book is for saleon.
You know it's easy to get.
It's on Amazon.
I saw it on other places, soit's definitely easy to get your
(35:53):
hands on.
So thank you again, renee, andper tradition on this podcast, I
would love to have you fill inthe blank QC.
That's where.
Rene Gellerman (36:05):
Well, I have to stick with the theme of my, my
book.
So I'm going to say QC, that'swhere kids have the power to
make their dreams come true.
Katrina Keuning (36:16):
I love it.
Thank you so much for your timetoday, I wishing you all the
best in this and looking forwardto seeing what's ahead for kids
United.
Rene Gellerman (36:25):
Thank you so much, katrina, it was fun.
Outro (36:27):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(36:48):
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