January 19, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s show featured Roots to Wings co-founder Jamie Smith and program director Caitlin Ladehoff discussing what their organization does to improve the lives of children and adults living with disabilities. Then, SHARE Omaha executive director Teresa Mardesen promoted various volunteer opportunities in honor of Martin Luther King Day.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news Radio eleven ten, Kfab It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week we get a chance to highlight a really
cool organization here in the area called Roots two Wings.
We have the program director, Kaitlin Ladehoff is on the program. Kaitlin,
thank you very much for being with us on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And we also have co founder of Roots to Wings,
Jamie Smith is here and Jamie, thank you so much
for being here as well on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Thank you. Thanks for reaching out to.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Us as co founder. Jamie. We'll start with you here.
Tell me about this organization, why you founded it, and
what need you were looking to fill in our area.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Sure, yeah, so I teach the life skills students coming
through the transitional age here at Arlington Public Schools and well,
eleven years ago, Sheila Monkey, who's a retired special education teacher,
and I and another SPAD teacher we're sitting around talking
(01:18):
about how we work so hard to have our students
feel like they're included in the classrooms, and then once
they leave our school system, we just didn't have lots
of opportunities for them to be employed. And we you know,
when you build all those relationships with students, it's hard
(01:38):
to not have a place for them to go to
be in our community. And then there's also transportation issues
where some of our students once they graduated, were not
able to get to a job, say in Freemont or Blair,
oh Maha. And so, knowing that was a need, we
heard of this really cool program in Weston, Missouri that
(02:01):
a couple moms who were in the very same situation
with their children created this this work environment called the
Farmer's House. So Sheila and I and another special education
teacher went to Weston, Missouri to go see this, and
on the way back we had a full plan of
(02:22):
how we were going to implement it in our school system.
So that was in August of fourteen, I believe, And
so that school year we created this little business within
our school system, and we did it k through transitional
age kids. So we worked together and they made dips
(02:43):
and rubs and all of these different mixes, and then
we sat down with our superintendent at that time and
she said, this is a great idea, but it would
be nice if this was outside of the school system.
At that time, Sheila and I sat down and went
back to the drawing board and tried to figure out
(03:05):
how we could make this more of a community, a business,
or a module over the farmer's house. So we started.
We rented a space on Main Street across from the
Senior Center, and we had a little work area in
the back room, and then we had a little storefront
(03:29):
and it was an old doctor's business, so there was
all these little rooms and it wasn't very big, but
it served our purpose to begin with. But as our
program grew, we quickly outgrew our facilities, and that's where
we purchased the RTW garage across the street and we
(03:50):
were able to expand the store instead of it being
the workroom in the bag. And then from there we
kind of grow out out grew our store and we
were able to lease a building just around the corner
on Third Street, and through graygs and donations and just
(04:11):
an amazing support from our community, we're able to overhaul this.
Uh that was also a doctor's office into this beautiful
store with a commercial kitchen and a back room that
the girls, so we have it. It's like a huge
storage room too, and that's where the breakroom is and
kind of the meeting area. And then we were able
(04:35):
to just operate out of the R t W garage
where all of the dirty work happens, and Kaitlyn can
talk about what goes on there.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, I want to I want to talk here for
a moment here about about well, I'm fascinated on the
concept here of what you've been able to do there, Jamie,
with the being there for special needs individuals within schools.
Because Arlington, Nebraska, just north northwest of Omaha a wonderful
small community, and I'm sure there are people who are thinking, well,
(05:04):
how many people are we really talking about in a
small town here who would need this assistance? I would
think that they and the schools would be able to
provide it. But because you don't have that sheer volume
like Omaha or Lincoln or even Fremont might, then you
don't have those resources and that money and those individuals
trained in certain ways to be able to deal with
(05:26):
these needs. Is that right?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
That's right? We started out with two and we call
our our as our students age out of the transition program.
We came up with a job title. So when I
refer to them as farmers, that's what we call them
because we have gardens. And that was also a title
that they thought was a cool title. So when I
say farmers, that's what I'm talking about. And we started
out with two. Yeah, just too, and Caitlin, how many
(05:50):
are we up to? Now?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
We are up to ten farmers.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Now, okay, and everything is online their Roots to Wings
Nebraska dot org is that website, Roots to Wings Nebraska
dot org. You've heard a lot there from co founder
of Roots to Wings, Jamie Smith here on community matters.
Let's bring Caitlin Ladehoff, program director for Roots to Wings
into the conversation. So Jamie gave us some of that
(06:16):
foundational work for Roots to Wings and then here's this
dream and here's this beautiful space handed off to you, Caitlin, Like,
now you've got to actually do it. So how do you?
How do you do it?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
With a lot of planning, a lot of help from Pinterest,
and a lot of donations from the community of old Wood,
old tools that people want to donate just materials that
aren't needed anymore, Puple donate and then we turn into
(06:50):
amazing projects. So I've taught a lot of the farmers.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
How to use.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Nails and screws and drills, and obviously I help them
with like a saw, big stuff like that. But we
make amazing projects that we actually put into the store
to sell, and then they get a percentage of that
when it's sell when someone buys one of their projects.
And then we do much more than that. So we
(07:17):
actually volunteer in Fremont.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
With Live House.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
We donate our time to the backpack program and packs.
I recently have started looking into meals on wheels where
we can help with that, and so we do a lot.
And then with that commercial kitchen in the store, we
(07:41):
teach the farmers how to bake, how to use measuring tools,
you know, how to tell the difference if this is
a half cup or a fourth cup. And then we
bake products and we put them in the store and
we sell those as well.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jamie, what's the significance of the phrase roots to wings
as it pertains to all the things that you guys
are doing there.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
You know, we our original uh uh name was Eagle
co Op and right now I can tell you what
the co ops stood for, a community occupational opportunity with
a purpose. That's what it was. But when we went
to file for our nonprofit status, co op was Egg
affiliated and so they wouldn't recognize that. So we had
(08:25):
to think of something else that was more fitting. And
our school mascot is eagles, so we were thinking something
with the wings, and I think it was our speech
pathologists that had come up with that name, and we're like,
that's it, that's where it is. And it also it
communities in too. With our we have a right to
(08:47):
work program so where we have students in the transitional
age from different school districts too that bring their students
in and so they get kind of a pre training
or a little vocational opportunities. So that's kind of how
we got the name. There.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, Roots to Wingsdebraska dot org is the website and
I'm guessing there are a lot of ways that the community,
the larger community can help with this, including just shopping
there in the store, right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You know, Caitlyn mentioned a lot of things where people donate.
It might be even furniture too, that might need to
be refurbished, and so that goes into the store. We
use it as display, but a lot of times people
are like, that's beautiful, and then our farmers make a
commission off of the products that they make too, So
(09:45):
other things that people in the community could do. We
have lots of volunteers that come in and along with
Caitlin work side by side with teaching them how to
sew or cooking. So if anybody wants to volunteer their time,
that would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, Caitlin, how does how does someone reach out to
be able to help out everything that you and Jamie
and the rest of the team are doing there with
Roots to Wings if they want to volunteer, so on
our website.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Our email is on there, so we could always take
emails our website or Sosier phone number. But we also
have a wonderful Facebook page where me and a couple
other board members we post there almost every day of
new projects or whatever we put in the store. But
if you reach out on Facebook's messenger, I have that
on my phone so I can see that right away.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Excellent. So Roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. You can
find Roots to Wings Nebraska on social media. Caitlin Ladehoff,
their program director of Roots to Wings. What if someone said,
I can't really devote a lot of time to this,
but here's a whole bunch of money. Is that Okay?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It is so a lot of times it's kind of
what we have. You can donate through the website or
just send checks. But it's a huge help when we
get that because you know, every day if we need
to make a hobby lobby trip, or a lot of
times you know Walmart for supply and you'd never know,
never imagine the amount of sugar we go through, or
(11:13):
paper towels, stuff like that. Those are big contribution sets
because we can go and purchase that step and then
we have the freedom to do that. We also go
on monthly outings once a month just to celebrate the
farmers and reward them for all their hard work that
they put in every day. So a lot of times
(11:33):
some of that money goes to outings, you know. So
in December we went putt putt golfing and in February
we're going to go to an arcade and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Very fun. And Jamie, what about for those families who've
got a someone who could be a farmer, you know,
this individual, an individual living with a disability, special education
student for example, who says, you know, I'm outside the
Arlington area, but I know that my child or my
sibling would really benefit from being involved with this. Is
(12:06):
Is that a possibility?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Sure, that happens often where we will have parents or
aunts or uncles or grandparents or siblings reach out and
through that same website. That would be a great way
to make that initial contact. And usually it involves like
a tour. But we also one thing too that I
wanted to add in with that is that we have
(12:32):
groups coming from ILC out of Omaha and Caitlyn. You
can talk more about that, but I think that's super
important that we talk about. It's not just our little community,
but it reaches becamea Fremont Blair, Omaha.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yes, So we actually have a couple of farmers who
live in Fremont. Their parents bring them once or twice
a week, and then we actually partner with ILC and
Omaha and Dale provide transportation if that if the individual
is on waiver through ILC, they provide transportation. And we
(13:10):
have groups come from Omaha twice a week, different groups,
so this week is Sarpi and Millard. So they come
and we do an activity with these big groups and
then they go back on their way. But like Jamie
was saying, we have individual We actually have a contractor
to Kaima Herman, so they bring students, they provide the transportation.
We have a contract with Arlington obviously, so we have
(13:31):
a couple of farmers that come from there, and then
we have a couple of farmers that live outside a Blair.
So yeah, it's definitely not just our community. We have
them all over. We would love to expand, like looking
at Oakland Craig one day, we do want to get
on contract with them, but we would love to get
permimers from all.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Over the place.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And it's definitely easy to do. If you have that individual,
you just kind of to send us an email. We
can set up a tour and then we go from there.
But we would love to expand, and there.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Are events throughout the year. I know, just a few
weeks ago, my friend Matt O'Daniel was part of the
roots to Wings New Year's Eve celebration and he was
telling me all about it, and that's how we all
got acquainted here talking with Jamie Smith and Caitlin Ladeho
from Roots to Wings Nebraska. So we unfortunately missed that
if we weren't there a few weeks ago. We'll have
to wait another almost year for that event. But there
(14:29):
are other things that go on throughout the year, and
I hope you'll come back here on the program and
talk about those anything we should put on the calendar
here for the months ahead where someone can help out
Roots to Wings and be a part of a nice
event like that New Year's Eve celebration.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah, Kaitlin.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
One of our open house again, Saturday March fifteenth, we
have our spring open house at the store so on
Third Street, that boutique, and so we usually sort of
lunch and we invite everybody to come check us out,
do a little shopping, have a little lunch, learn more
about Rich Wings. We have brochures and pamphlets and all
(15:06):
of our most of our members are in attendance, and
the executive director, chrish Kylo, she's amazing. And then I
will be there and you can learn more about it
and just help us out or just hang out.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Excellent. That's Saturday March fifteenth. Put that on your calendar.
Details at Roots to Wings, Nebraska dot org. But Jamie,
the stores open all the time, right, what are the
usual times someone can stop by and visit the store?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Uh, well, we're not open every day, so it's we're
open Thursday, Friday one to five, and then Saturdays nine
to one. That open house is nine to three, I believe. Yeah,
So our farmers are busy working throughout the week making
things that go in there. And we also here's another
(15:52):
thing that the community could help with. We're always looking
for consigners to bring their their local artisans or their
artworker or whatever their specialty may be to come in
and kind of help seal up the store space. So
it's the way we get to honor them as well.
So personally, tell you that's got a great craft, bring
(16:15):
it on in.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Great idea there, and thank you so much for throwing
that in there. Anything else we should know about Roots
to Wings online at rootsto Wingsdebraska dot org.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I just want to tell you something from my perspective
as a teacher. I've been in Arlington for twenty nine
years and this has probably been the most amazing piece
to be able to see the seeds that you plant
with them in school and then as they become young
adults working in our community and driving. It's not many
(16:48):
teachers get that opportunity to see that. So for that piece,
I'm grateful.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Perfect and Caitlin, what does it mean to you personally
to be involved with an organization such as this?
Speaker 4 (17:00):
It's huge to me because I work with them every day, well,
Tuesday through Fridays, I work with them, and just from
even a month of working every day, you will see
huge changes in these individuals where they learn new tools,
or they learn how to cook and take and they
(17:22):
remember this stuff and they get excited. We actually have
one individual who, because of Risk Doings, he loves cooking
now and he goes home and he cooks and then
he brings us his recipes that he's at home. But
he said that he kind of learned all the stuff
from Rips Doings. I have another individual who one day,
(17:46):
we are working on a wood project and we needed
a certain drow bit and I'm not very tool smart.
I've learned a lot from being at Riots Doings, but
I'm not the smartest. And he knew exactly what drove bit,
what size to get right to the tool box and
(18:06):
got the right size on his first try and back
us drill all by himself. So it's amazing to see
the strides that they make every day, and no day
is the same every day.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
I'm just amazed where I see them grow.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That is Caitlin Ladehoff, program director as well as co
founder Jamie Smith with us here also with Roots to
Wings online at roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. Really
being there on a lot of different fronts for those
individuals in our community living with disabilities and Jamie and Caitlin,
(18:42):
wonderful stuff that you're doing there out of Arlington online
at Roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. Thank you so
much for all you're doing and thanks for spending all
this time telling us about it on community matters.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Thank you. Thanks for reaching out to us too. Yes,
thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We would like the word to bread and to get
out on I think what we're doing is amazing and
we would love the opportunity for new farmers and individuals
and just to spread our word and to get us
out there because it is amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You're listening to community matters and coming up here. Monday
is Martin Luther King Day, the federal holiday observe the
third Monday of January each day honoring Reverend doctor Martin
Luther King, which has become a national day of service
to celebrate and commemorate his life. Here in Omaha, we
definitely have some opportunities for you to be a part
(19:35):
of this. We welcome back here the executive director of
Share Omaha, Teresa Martis, and welcome back to community matters.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Always tell me about what share Omaha is doing to
help commemorate MLKA Day on Monday.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yeah, so MLCA day of Service day to celebrate. But
of course with the day of service, way to get
to the word out for volunteer needs in ways people
can serve. So Share Omaha's involvement is what are those
volunteer needs? How can we help the community. How can
we you know, do a day on rather than a
(20:10):
day off, you know, a day on to serve And
what does that look like? And that's where we're helping
and celebrating and honoring the day.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It always floors me when in some cases of holidays
like this, some school districts will just take the day off,
like kids are home playing video games, like this isn't
really what the day was for? You know, we all
need a day to sit around and play video games
once in a while, but maybe not on a day
like this. So, yeah, before we talk about some of
those things that you can do on Monday, let's talk
(20:39):
about share Omaha, what you guys are and how you
help connect people with various nonprofits.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Yeah, so share omaha dot org is a it's a website,
So it's a hub place to go to find out
where you can go to make donations for causes you
care about, find about find out about nonprofits you may
not have heard of, and cause volunteer opportunities. Four hundred
and fifty to five hundred volunteer needs posted each day,
(21:06):
including you know, honoring MLK Day of Service, shopping wishless items.
Any given day, we've got our six hundred plus nonprofit
members posting what their wish list items are. Maybe it's
like kids can need stem kits and for folks that
love making their donations as tangible items, loving to know
(21:26):
exactly where every dollar went, that's something to do. And
then also promoting fundraising events and events that nonprofits have
in the community. That's what Shaamha does.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Want to make sure and highlight that because we're not
talking about you being an organization that works with one
local charity that has this need, you work with all
of them as well as all of those yet to
come here. Share o Maha is kind of a clearinghouse
that's local nonprofits to connect volunteers and whether it's their
time or their money with these organizations and fill these needs.
(21:59):
So as we're talking about that with the executive director
of share Omaha online at share Omaha dot org, Teresa
Martisan's with us. What are some of the different nonprofits
and organizations doing stuff here on Monday in honor of
MLK Day.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, there's a lot. Some to mention include open Door
Mission and Sienna Francis House need help serving food open
Door Mission, but also sorting at Santa Francis House and
Open Door Mission. They they've always got sorting to do, donations,
toys still left from the holidays. There's still needs all
(22:34):
year long for those kinds of things. We've also got
a couple nonprofits to highlight, you know, Durham, the Durham
Museum is having an MLK Day event and so as
United Way of the Midlands they're having an MLK Day celebration.
Another couple and.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I wanted to point out here it looks like the
Durham Museum is looking for volunteers to help them with that. Yes,
I didn't realize that you could volunteer at the Durham Museum.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
You bet.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I love going there, whether it's the exhibits of the
soda fountain. Yeah, I know you could help with volunteering
at that point. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
There's you know, as any event needs. You know, we've
all been we either went to an event or helped
plan event at some point in our lives and you realize, oh, yes,
it sure helps to have extra people helping. So absolutely
they could use those volunteers for that event at the
Durham Western Heritage Museum.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
You got all right, So we had some of those.
I know we have more sure.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Another one is Habitat for Humanity is doing a day
of service build love that we have the I love this.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
So what a what a great way with the recent
passing President Jimmy Carter, who did so much work for
Habitat for Humanity, to be able to honor his legacy
and assist with the local efforts of Habitat.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So that's absolutely and I learned with Habitat for Humanity,
if you can hammer and nail. You can do it,
you know. They they're amazing and they teach and train.
It's amazing, so great group activity or individual if you
I'm fun too, for sure, fun and you're gonna learn
something and that's great too. Another one is the Omaha
(24:14):
Conservatory of Music. Who doesn't love music? And I especially
love this because I'm familiar with the string sprouts class strengths,
you know, violins, et cetera. Teaching elementary age. But it's
the volunteering is they need help preparing for those class materials.
There's always organization needed.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Right, you have to know music a bit more to
be able to help with this or no, you just
directing traffic with a bunch of kids trying not to
poke each other and their eye with their bows, right
or every right?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Just a heart to help and a desire to be there.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Don't need to know how to play an instrument, don't
know how to need to know how to play strings.
You're just helping prep the materials and they'll show you
what to do. Okay, you made a mention of you know,
day off from school. You know when kids are you know,
when my kids were younger too, it's like, uh oh,
if they're bored or they don't have something to do,
what a day to find something to do? Because there
(25:10):
is plenty to do. And when you go to share
omaha dot org, you can search by age group, so
you can search, you know, if your kids are age
five to ten or eleven to eighteen, there might be
a volunteer need for just like an hour's worth of
volunteering or something simple, where as a family could volunteer
from home. So there's those kinds of activities too, whether
(25:30):
you do it on mkday of service or around that
time or anytime throughout the year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
So often we hear about share Omaha as it relates
to Giving Tuesday around the holidays, which is huge and important.
By the way, how did it go this past year?
We talked with you leading up to Giving Tuesday, but
not afterwards.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Amazing. Giving Tuesday was amazing. And every year we increase
our individual donation. The minimum donation is a dollar Scott.
Every year we increase and this year it was one
hundred and ten dollars per individual donation.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
That was an average donation. That's right provided by any
idea about how many people donated or how much money
was raised low let someone else do the master.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
So we're about three point seven to three point eight million.
There's a few bits of information still coming in which
our goal was to eclipse twenty million in giving over
five years. Because we've been around five years, we eclipse
that easily thanks to the yes, thanks to the generous
hearts in the community. So it was a great Giving Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Well, it's I like talking with you and everyone else
from share o Maha because it's such an easy way
for people to get connected with topics that they're either
already passionate about, whether it's things like veterans or kids
or animals or whatever, to then finding out about some
of the great local nonprofits who could use some assistance.
(26:52):
And it's all spelled out right there in the website.
If you have a couple hours a week can help
with this, or if you're just saying, look, I don't know,
I'm just interested in doing more. That's my New Year's resolution.
I want to do more, but I have no idea
where to start. Share omaha dot org is a great
resource for that, whether it's because of Giving Tuesday or
(27:12):
New Year's resolutions or the Martin Luther King Day of
Service coming up here on Monday. Share Omaha is all
year round and always a great opportunity to connect volunteers
or people who are writing checks with those local organizations
that can help with that. And I'm sure we have
brand new nonprofits coming online serving the community in a
(27:33):
variety of different ways all the time. How did they
end up getting listed on your website?
Speaker 5 (27:38):
It's a simple process of you know, got to be
a five on' one C three and website needs to
have been around for at least a year. But it's
reaching out and completing the information about your nonprofit and
then just being sure to update that because of course
you know, and you would anyway, you know, update with
your volunteer needs, do you have a certain donation, elevated
(28:00):
donation need, or you're just filling out the profile and
updating on an ongoing basis, and we highlight our nonprofits
on our site. It's pretty simple process to get included.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Share Omaha helping the community fulfill their missions by recruiting
volunteers and donors to share money and time to help
read all reach all of these local nonprofits goals here.
It's online at share Omaha dot org. That's s H
A R E. Share Omaha dot org. As I often say,
you know, not the singer, we do love her, but
(28:37):
share Omaha dot org is the website. Teresa Martisen, executive
director of share Omaha. You can get connected on there
right now and find out how you can help out
with some of the local areas nonprofits observances of Martin
Luther King Day at share Omaha dot org slash m
l K Day that takes you directly to those opportunities.
(28:57):
Share Omaha dot org slash m Lkday. Teresa Mardison, Executive
director of share Omaha. Thank you so much for what
you're doing for our community. Thanks for telling us about it.
That's always here on Community Matters.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Always happy to thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
And thank you so much for being with us on
Community Matters this week on this iHeartMedia Omaha radio station.
If you're looking for this or any other previous editions
of Community Matters, you'll find it at kfab dot com,
one of the radio stations that carries the show every
single weekend. Just click on the weekend tabs under podcasts
(29:31):
on our homepage at kfab dot com. Again, weekend tabs
under Podcasts at kfab dot com look for Communitymatters.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on Cat one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits ninety nine
point nine, KGOR News Radio, eleven ten KFAB Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf, and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day. Hey,
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news Radio eleven ten, Kfab It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week we get a chance to highlight a really
cool organization here in the area called Roots two Wings.
We have the program director, Kaitlin Ladehoff is on the program. Kaitlin,
thank you very much for being with us on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And we also have co founder of Roots to Wings,
Jamie Smith is here and Jamie, thank you so much
for being here as well on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Thank you. Thanks for reaching out to.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Us as co founder. Jamie. We'll start with you here.
Tell me about this organization, why you founded it, and
what need you were looking to fill in our area.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Sure, yeah, so I teach the life skills students coming
through the transitional age here at Arlington Public Schools and well,
eleven years ago, Sheila Monkey, who's a retired special education teacher,
and I and another SPAD teacher we're sitting around talking
(01:18):
about how we work so hard to have our students
feel like they're included in the classrooms, and then once
they leave our school system, we just didn't have lots
of opportunities for them to be employed. And we you know,
when you build all those relationships with students, it's hard
(01:38):
to not have a place for them to go to
be in our community. And then there's also transportation issues
where some of our students once they graduated, were not
able to get to a job, say in Freemont or Blair,
oh Maha. And so, knowing that was a need, we
heard of this really cool program in Weston, Missouri that
(02:01):
a couple moms who were in the very same situation
with their children created this this work environment called the
Farmer's House. So Sheila and I and another special education
teacher went to Weston, Missouri to go see this, and
on the way back we had a full plan of
(02:22):
how we were going to implement it in our school system.
So that was in August of fourteen, I believe, And
so that school year we created this little business within
our school system, and we did it k through transitional
age kids. So we worked together and they made dips
(02:43):
and rubs and all of these different mixes, and then
we sat down with our superintendent at that time and
she said, this is a great idea, but it would
be nice if this was outside of the school system.
At that time, Sheila and I sat down and went
back to the drawing board and tried to figure out
(03:05):
how we could make this more of a community, a business,
or a module over the farmer's house. So we started.
We rented a space on Main Street across from the
Senior Center, and we had a little work area in
the back room, and then we had a little storefront
(03:29):
and it was an old doctor's business, so there was
all these little rooms and it wasn't very big, but
it served our purpose to begin with. But as our
program grew, we quickly outgrew our facilities, and that's where
we purchased the RTW garage across the street and we
(03:50):
were able to expand the store instead of it being
the workroom in the bag. And then from there we
kind of grow out out grew our store and we
were able to lease a building just around the corner
on Third Street, and through graygs and donations and just
(04:11):
an amazing support from our community, we're able to overhaul this.
Uh that was also a doctor's office into this beautiful
store with a commercial kitchen and a back room that
the girls, so we have it. It's like a huge
storage room too, and that's where the breakroom is and
kind of the meeting area. And then we were able
(04:35):
to just operate out of the R t W garage
where all of the dirty work happens, and Kaitlyn can
talk about what goes on there.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, I want to I want to talk here for
a moment here about about well, I'm fascinated on the
concept here of what you've been able to do there, Jamie,
with the being there for special needs individuals within schools.
Because Arlington, Nebraska, just north northwest of Omaha a wonderful
small community, and I'm sure there are people who are thinking, well,
(05:04):
how many people are we really talking about in a
small town here who would need this assistance? I would
think that they and the schools would be able to
provide it. But because you don't have that sheer volume
like Omaha or Lincoln or even Fremont might, then you
don't have those resources and that money and those individuals
trained in certain ways to be able to deal with
(05:26):
these needs. Is that right?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
That's right? We started out with two and we call
our our as our students age out of the transition program.
We came up with a job title. So when I
refer to them as farmers, that's what we call them
because we have gardens. And that was also a title
that they thought was a cool title. So when I
say farmers, that's what I'm talking about. And we started
out with two. Yeah, just too, and Caitlin, how many
(05:50):
are we up to? Now?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
We are up to ten farmers.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Now, okay, and everything is online their Roots to Wings
Nebraska dot org is that website, Roots to Wings Nebraska
dot org. You've heard a lot there from co founder
of Roots to Wings, Jamie Smith here on community matters.
Let's bring Caitlin Ladehoff, program director for Roots to Wings
into the conversation. So Jamie gave us some of that
(06:16):
foundational work for Roots to Wings and then here's this
dream and here's this beautiful space handed off to you, Caitlin, Like,
now you've got to actually do it. So how do you?
How do you do it?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
With a lot of planning, a lot of help from Pinterest,
and a lot of donations from the community of old Wood,
old tools that people want to donate just materials that
aren't needed anymore, Puple donate and then we turn into
(06:50):
amazing projects. So I've taught a lot of the farmers.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
How to use.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Nails and screws and drills, and obviously I help them
with like a saw, big stuff like that. But we
make amazing projects that we actually put into the store
to sell, and then they get a percentage of that
when it's sell when someone buys one of their projects.
And then we do much more than that. So we
(07:17):
actually volunteer in Fremont.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
With Live House.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
We donate our time to the backpack program and packs.
I recently have started looking into meals on wheels where
we can help with that, and so we do a lot.
And then with that commercial kitchen in the store, we
(07:41):
teach the farmers how to bake, how to use measuring tools,
you know, how to tell the difference if this is
a half cup or a fourth cup. And then we
bake products and we put them in the store and
we sell those as well.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jamie, what's the significance of the phrase roots to wings
as it pertains to all the things that you guys
are doing there.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
You know, we our original uh uh name was Eagle
co Op and right now I can tell you what
the co ops stood for, a community occupational opportunity with
a purpose. That's what it was. But when we went
to file for our nonprofit status, co op was Egg
affiliated and so they wouldn't recognize that. So we had
(08:25):
to think of something else that was more fitting. And
our school mascot is eagles, so we were thinking something
with the wings, and I think it was our speech
pathologists that had come up with that name, and we're like,
that's it, that's where it is. And it also it
communities in too. With our we have a right to
(08:47):
work program so where we have students in the transitional
age from different school districts too that bring their students
in and so they get kind of a pre training
or a little vocational opportunities. So that's kind of how
we got the name. There.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, Roots to Wingsdebraska dot org is the website and
I'm guessing there are a lot of ways that the community,
the larger community can help with this, including just shopping
there in the store, right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You know, Caitlyn mentioned a lot of things where people donate.
It might be even furniture too, that might need to
be refurbished, and so that goes into the store. We
use it as display, but a lot of times people
are like, that's beautiful, and then our farmers make a
commission off of the products that they make too, So
(09:45):
other things that people in the community could do. We
have lots of volunteers that come in and along with
Caitlin work side by side with teaching them how to
sew or cooking. So if anybody wants to volunteer their time,
that would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, Caitlin, how does how does someone reach out to
be able to help out everything that you and Jamie
and the rest of the team are doing there with
Roots to Wings if they want to volunteer, so on
our website.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Our email is on there, so we could always take
emails our website or Sosier phone number. But we also
have a wonderful Facebook page where me and a couple
other board members we post there almost every day of
new projects or whatever we put in the store. But
if you reach out on Facebook's messenger, I have that
on my phone so I can see that right away.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Excellent. So Roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. You can
find Roots to Wings Nebraska on social media. Caitlin Ladehoff,
their program director of Roots to Wings. What if someone said,
I can't really devote a lot of time to this,
but here's a whole bunch of money. Is that Okay?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It is so a lot of times it's kind of
what we have. You can donate through the website or
just send checks. But it's a huge help when we
get that because you know, every day if we need
to make a hobby lobby trip, or a lot of
times you know Walmart for supply and you'd never know,
never imagine the amount of sugar we go through, or
(11:13):
paper towels, stuff like that. Those are big contribution sets
because we can go and purchase that step and then
we have the freedom to do that. We also go
on monthly outings once a month just to celebrate the
farmers and reward them for all their hard work that
they put in every day. So a lot of times
(11:33):
some of that money goes to outings, you know. So
in December we went putt putt golfing and in February
we're going to go to an arcade and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Very fun. And Jamie, what about for those families who've
got a someone who could be a farmer, you know,
this individual, an individual living with a disability, special education
student for example, who says, you know, I'm outside the
Arlington area, but I know that my child or my
sibling would really benefit from being involved with this. Is
(12:06):
Is that a possibility?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Sure, that happens often where we will have parents or
aunts or uncles or grandparents or siblings reach out and
through that same website. That would be a great way
to make that initial contact. And usually it involves like
a tour. But we also one thing too that I
wanted to add in with that is that we have
(12:32):
groups coming from ILC out of Omaha and Caitlyn. You
can talk more about that, but I think that's super
important that we talk about. It's not just our little community,
but it reaches becamea Fremont Blair, Omaha.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yes, So we actually have a couple of farmers who
live in Fremont. Their parents bring them once or twice
a week, and then we actually partner with ILC and
Omaha and Dale provide transportation if that if the individual
is on waiver through ILC, they provide transportation. And we
(13:10):
have groups come from Omaha twice a week, different groups,
so this week is Sarpi and Millard. So they come
and we do an activity with these big groups and
then they go back on their way. But like Jamie
was saying, we have individual We actually have a contractor
to Kaima Herman, so they bring students, they provide the transportation.
We have a contract with Arlington obviously, so we have
(13:31):
a couple of farmers that come from there, and then
we have a couple of farmers that live outside a Blair.
So yeah, it's definitely not just our community. We have
them all over. We would love to expand, like looking
at Oakland Craig one day, we do want to get
on contract with them, but we would love to get
permimers from all.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Over the place.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And it's definitely easy to do. If you have that individual,
you just kind of to send us an email. We
can set up a tour and then we go from there.
But we would love to expand, and there.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Are events throughout the year. I know, just a few
weeks ago, my friend Matt O'Daniel was part of the
roots to Wings New Year's Eve celebration and he was
telling me all about it, and that's how we all
got acquainted here talking with Jamie Smith and Caitlin Ladeho
from Roots to Wings Nebraska. So we unfortunately missed that
if we weren't there a few weeks ago. We'll have
to wait another almost year for that event. But there
(14:29):
are other things that go on throughout the year, and
I hope you'll come back here on the program and
talk about those anything we should put on the calendar
here for the months ahead where someone can help out
Roots to Wings and be a part of a nice
event like that New Year's Eve celebration.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah, Kaitlin.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
One of our open house again, Saturday March fifteenth, we
have our spring open house at the store so on
Third Street, that boutique, and so we usually sort of
lunch and we invite everybody to come check us out,
do a little shopping, have a little lunch, learn more
about Rich Wings. We have brochures and pamphlets and all
(15:06):
of our most of our members are in attendance, and
the executive director, chrish Kylo, she's amazing. And then I
will be there and you can learn more about it
and just help us out or just hang out.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Excellent. That's Saturday March fifteenth. Put that on your calendar.
Details at Roots to Wings, Nebraska dot org. But Jamie,
the stores open all the time, right, what are the
usual times someone can stop by and visit the store?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Uh, well, we're not open every day, so it's we're
open Thursday, Friday one to five, and then Saturdays nine
to one. That open house is nine to three, I believe. Yeah,
So our farmers are busy working throughout the week making
things that go in there. And we also here's another
(15:52):
thing that the community could help with. We're always looking
for consigners to bring their their local artisans or their
artworker or whatever their specialty may be to come in
and kind of help seal up the store space. So
it's the way we get to honor them as well.
So personally, tell you that's got a great craft, bring
(16:15):
it on in.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Great idea there, and thank you so much for throwing
that in there. Anything else we should know about Roots
to Wings online at rootsto Wingsdebraska dot org.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I just want to tell you something from my perspective
as a teacher. I've been in Arlington for twenty nine
years and this has probably been the most amazing piece
to be able to see the seeds that you plant
with them in school and then as they become young
adults working in our community and driving. It's not many
(16:48):
teachers get that opportunity to see that. So for that piece,
I'm grateful.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Perfect and Caitlin, what does it mean to you personally
to be involved with an organization such as this?
Speaker 4 (17:00):
It's huge to me because I work with them every day, well,
Tuesday through Fridays, I work with them, and just from
even a month of working every day, you will see
huge changes in these individuals where they learn new tools,
or they learn how to cook and take and they
(17:22):
remember this stuff and they get excited. We actually have
one individual who, because of Risk Doings, he loves cooking
now and he goes home and he cooks and then
he brings us his recipes that he's at home. But
he said that he kind of learned all the stuff
from Rips Doings. I have another individual who one day,
(17:46):
we are working on a wood project and we needed
a certain drow bit and I'm not very tool smart.
I've learned a lot from being at Riots Doings, but
I'm not the smartest. And he knew exactly what drove bit,
what size to get right to the tool box and
(18:06):
got the right size on his first try and back
us drill all by himself. So it's amazing to see
the strides that they make every day, and no day
is the same every day.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
I'm just amazed where I see them grow.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That is Caitlin Ladehoff, program director as well as co
founder Jamie Smith with us here also with Roots to
Wings online at roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. Really
being there on a lot of different fronts for those
individuals in our community living with disabilities and Jamie and Caitlin,
(18:42):
wonderful stuff that you're doing there out of Arlington online
at Roots to Wings Nebraska dot org. Thank you so
much for all you're doing and thanks for spending all
this time telling us about it on community matters.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Thank you. Thanks for reaching out to us too. Yes,
thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We would like the word to bread and to get
out on I think what we're doing is amazing and
we would love the opportunity for new farmers and individuals
and just to spread our word and to get us
out there because it is amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You're listening to community matters and coming up here. Monday
is Martin Luther King Day, the federal holiday observe the
third Monday of January each day honoring Reverend doctor Martin
Luther King, which has become a national day of service
to celebrate and commemorate his life. Here in Omaha, we
definitely have some opportunities for you to be a part
(19:35):
of this. We welcome back here the executive director of
Share Omaha, Teresa Martis, and welcome back to community matters.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Always tell me about what share Omaha is doing to
help commemorate MLKA Day on Monday.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yeah, so MLCA day of Service day to celebrate. But
of course with the day of service, way to get
to the word out for volunteer needs in ways people
can serve. So Share Omaha's involvement is what are those
volunteer needs? How can we help the community. How can
we you know, do a day on rather than a
(20:10):
day off, you know, a day on to serve And
what does that look like? And that's where we're helping
and celebrating and honoring the day.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It always floors me when in some cases of holidays
like this, some school districts will just take the day off,
like kids are home playing video games, like this isn't
really what the day was for? You know, we all
need a day to sit around and play video games
once in a while, but maybe not on a day
like this. So, yeah, before we talk about some of
those things that you can do on Monday, let's talk
(20:39):
about share Omaha, what you guys are and how you
help connect people with various nonprofits.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Yeah, so share omaha dot org is a it's a website,
So it's a hub place to go to find out
where you can go to make donations for causes you
care about, find about find out about nonprofits you may
not have heard of, and cause volunteer opportunities. Four hundred
and fifty to five hundred volunteer needs posted each day,
(21:06):
including you know, honoring MLK Day of Service, shopping wishless items.
Any given day, we've got our six hundred plus nonprofit
members posting what their wish list items are. Maybe it's
like kids can need stem kits and for folks that
love making their donations as tangible items, loving to know
(21:26):
exactly where every dollar went, that's something to do. And
then also promoting fundraising events and events that nonprofits have
in the community. That's what Shaamha does.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Want to make sure and highlight that because we're not
talking about you being an organization that works with one
local charity that has this need, you work with all
of them as well as all of those yet to
come here. Share o Maha is kind of a clearinghouse
that's local nonprofits to connect volunteers and whether it's their
time or their money with these organizations and fill these needs.
(21:59):
So as we're talking about that with the executive director
of share Omaha online at share Omaha dot org, Teresa
Martisan's with us. What are some of the different nonprofits
and organizations doing stuff here on Monday in honor of
MLK Day.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, there's a lot. Some to mention include open Door
Mission and Sienna Francis House need help serving food open
Door Mission, but also sorting at Santa Francis House and
Open Door Mission. They they've always got sorting to do, donations,
toys still left from the holidays. There's still needs all
(22:34):
year long for those kinds of things. We've also got
a couple nonprofits to highlight, you know, Durham, the Durham
Museum is having an MLK Day event and so as
United Way of the Midlands they're having an MLK Day celebration.
Another couple and.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I wanted to point out here it looks like the
Durham Museum is looking for volunteers to help them with that. Yes,
I didn't realize that you could volunteer at the Durham Museum.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
You bet.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I love going there, whether it's the exhibits of the
soda fountain. Yeah, I know you could help with volunteering
at that point. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
There's you know, as any event needs. You know, we've
all been we either went to an event or helped
plan event at some point in our lives and you realize, oh, yes,
it sure helps to have extra people helping. So absolutely
they could use those volunteers for that event at the
Durham Western Heritage Museum.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
You got all right, So we had some of those.
I know we have more sure.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Another one is Habitat for Humanity is doing a day
of service build love that we have the I love this.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
So what a what a great way with the recent
passing President Jimmy Carter, who did so much work for
Habitat for Humanity, to be able to honor his legacy
and assist with the local efforts of Habitat.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So that's absolutely and I learned with Habitat for Humanity,
if you can hammer and nail. You can do it,
you know. They they're amazing and they teach and train.
It's amazing, so great group activity or individual if you
I'm fun too, for sure, fun and you're gonna learn
something and that's great too. Another one is the Omaha
(24:14):
Conservatory of Music. Who doesn't love music? And I especially
love this because I'm familiar with the string sprouts class strengths,
you know, violins, et cetera. Teaching elementary age. But it's
the volunteering is they need help preparing for those class materials.
There's always organization needed.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Right, you have to know music a bit more to
be able to help with this or no, you just
directing traffic with a bunch of kids trying not to
poke each other and their eye with their bows, right
or every right?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Just a heart to help and a desire to be there.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Don't need to know how to play an instrument, don't
know how to need to know how to play strings.
You're just helping prep the materials and they'll show you
what to do. Okay, you made a mention of you know,
day off from school. You know when kids are you know,
when my kids were younger too, it's like, uh oh,
if they're bored or they don't have something to do,
what a day to find something to do? Because there
(25:10):
is plenty to do. And when you go to share
omaha dot org, you can search by age group, so
you can search, you know, if your kids are age
five to ten or eleven to eighteen, there might be
a volunteer need for just like an hour's worth of
volunteering or something simple, where as a family could volunteer
from home. So there's those kinds of activities too, whether
(25:30):
you do it on mkday of service or around that
time or anytime throughout the year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
So often we hear about share Omaha as it relates
to Giving Tuesday around the holidays, which is huge and important.
By the way, how did it go this past year?
We talked with you leading up to Giving Tuesday, but
not afterwards.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Amazing. Giving Tuesday was amazing. And every year we increase
our individual donation. The minimum donation is a dollar Scott.
Every year we increase and this year it was one
hundred and ten dollars per individual donation.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
That was an average donation. That's right provided by any
idea about how many people donated or how much money
was raised low let someone else do the master.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
So we're about three point seven to three point eight million.
There's a few bits of information still coming in which
our goal was to eclipse twenty million in giving over
five years. Because we've been around five years, we eclipse
that easily thanks to the yes, thanks to the generous
hearts in the community. So it was a great Giving Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Well, it's I like talking with you and everyone else
from share o Maha because it's such an easy way
for people to get connected with topics that they're either
already passionate about, whether it's things like veterans or kids
or animals or whatever, to then finding out about some
of the great local nonprofits who could use some assistance.
(26:52):
And it's all spelled out right there in the website.
If you have a couple hours a week can help
with this, or if you're just saying, look, I don't know,
I'm just interested in doing more. That's my New Year's resolution.
I want to do more, but I have no idea
where to start. Share omaha dot org is a great
resource for that, whether it's because of Giving Tuesday or
(27:12):
New Year's resolutions or the Martin Luther King Day of
Service coming up here on Monday. Share Omaha is all
year round and always a great opportunity to connect volunteers
or people who are writing checks with those local organizations
that can help with that. And I'm sure we have
brand new nonprofits coming online serving the community in a
(27:33):
variety of different ways all the time. How did they
end up getting listed on your website?
Speaker 5 (27:38):
It's a simple process of you know, got to be
a five on' one C three and website needs to
have been around for at least a year. But it's
reaching out and completing the information about your nonprofit and
then just being sure to update that because of course
you know, and you would anyway, you know, update with
your volunteer needs, do you have a certain donation, elevated
(28:00):
donation need, or you're just filling out the profile and
updating on an ongoing basis, and we highlight our nonprofits
on our site. It's pretty simple process to get included.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Share Omaha helping the community fulfill their missions by recruiting
volunteers and donors to share money and time to help
read all reach all of these local nonprofits goals here.
It's online at share Omaha dot org. That's s H
A R E. Share Omaha dot org. As I often say,
you know, not the singer, we do love her, but
(28:37):
share Omaha dot org is the website. Teresa Martisen, executive
director of share Omaha. You can get connected on there
right now and find out how you can help out
with some of the local areas nonprofits observances of Martin
Luther King Day at share Omaha dot org slash m
l K Day that takes you directly to those opportunities.
(28:57):
Share Omaha dot org slash m Lkday. Teresa Mardison, Executive
director of share Omaha. Thank you so much for what
you're doing for our community. Thanks for telling us about it.
That's always here on Community Matters.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Always happy to thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
And thank you so much for being with us on
Community Matters this week on this iHeartMedia Omaha radio station.
If you're looking for this or any other previous editions
of Community Matters, you'll find it at kfab dot com,
one of the radio stations that carries the show every
single weekend. Just click on the weekend tabs under podcasts
(29:31):
on our homepage at kfab dot com. Again, weekend tabs
under Podcasts at kfab dot com look for Communitymatters.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on Cat one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits ninety nine
point nine, KGOR News Radio, eleven ten KFAB Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf, and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day. Hey,
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