Welcome to the Everyday Matters podcast, a show from NetSmart. Everyday Matters is about the opportunity we have to make a difference. Our collective cause connected mission is about impacting healthcare in meaningful ways. We seek to provide a place to share stories about the progress being made, how to overcome challenges, and ideas to inspire. Each conversation is about the work being done and the opportunity before us. Whether it’s about advocacy, awareness, or challenging stigmas, we know that together anything and everything is possible. Let’s get into the show where we learned from yesterday in pursuit of tomorrow. Here, we all work to ensure every day matters. Welcome to another episode of our Everyday Matters podcast. And we’ve been taking the time to learn more about organizations who are impacting a cause and community that they serve. We get to hear about their story, the services and the programs that they offer, and most importantly, how they’re impacting and changing lives. And that’s really what the whole spirit of everyday matters is. How in our words and our deeds can we do those things that fundamentally change someone’s day, changes their week, their month, their life. And that’s what these conversations is all about. And today we’ve got, I’ve gotten to hear about this organization for a while, and that’s because of my colleague Wendy, and she’s joined us and she’s gonna talk a little bit about her role in this, but we’ve also been joined by Mary, she’s going to, she leads organization. She’s gonna tell us about all the wonderful things that are out there. But before I do, I just wanna encourage you to take a moment, maybe to stop the distractions and everything that’s going on. Because today’s story is gonna be pretty special. It’s not just gonna be about, hey, here’s some of the programs and things that we’re doing. It’s about the lives that are being impacted today, yesterday and ongoing. And I’m really excited for all of us people to hear about that. Before I do that, Mary, Wendy, thank you for joining us. And if you don’t mind introducing yourself and then we’ll get into the organization. Great. Hi, I am Mary Esselman and I’m the CEO at Operation Breakthrough. This is actually my twelfth year there. That’s amazing. Twelve years you’ve been doing this. Now I’ve heard you’ve done a few podcasts. How many podcasts do you think you’ve done at this point? Oh, I don’t know. Probably you could probably count them on my two hands, but it’s pretty fun because it’s a great story to tell. So I love getting the opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun because I’ve had the opportunity to work with Wendy now for several years, many years. And Wendy just brags about your organization, you as a leader and the team and all the wonderful work. Wendy, if you don’t mind introducing yourself and then let’s just jump into how you got connected with Operation Breakthrough. Absolutely. So Wendy Hill, Chief People Officer here at Netsmart, but also proud board member of Operation Breakthrough. And like I said, so this is my sixth and final year on the board. I know I was very fortunate to spend the last year as the board chair. And I got involved in Operation Breakthrough because I was looking for a local opportunity and there were three things that I wanted to check off my list. One, it was really important to me is that there was it was a focus on children. Another one is that my family could be involved. Very cool. And a third one was that there was some kind of mental health component to it just because that’s who we are as a company here at Netsmart. So I was introduced to Mary through a common friend. And it was kind of a no brainer for me. And I was very fortunate to get the invitation to be on the board and have loved every minute of it since. Fun. It’s funny because I remember our tour and it was such a breath of fresh air because you were so purposeful. And now looking back on the six years, your kids have been there, your family’s been there, which is great. Yeah, thank you. And Wendy, we’re gonna dive into that because I think there’s a whole story in that that I think we need to unpack is as we think about where we have the opportunity to plug in. And I’ll just seed you with the thought, and don’t wanna hear about it right now. But hey, when you entered in, how did the expectations from you first entered in to now as you’re coming at six years? Because I’m betting there’s a pretty cool moment there in that. Mary, before we dive in, one of the way I love how Breakthrough is described as having a safe, loving and education environment for people. And we need more of that. Can you tell us more about the organization? And you’ve been there now for twelve years and maybe a little bit of its history and how it was founded. Let’s give our listeners an opportunity to understand. Great. Well, this is actually our fifty fifth year. Fifty fifth Yeah, that’s amazing. But I think it’s one of the most important places and most important work in Kansas City because we serve some of the most vulnerable children and families. But it actually started with two nuns teaching on the east side of Kansas City and parents came and said, if we just had someone to watch our young children, we could go to work. And so of course, our founder, Sister Bertrand and Greta said, well, we can do this. They had an empty convent. And before you know it, they started with four and then forty and then four hundred. And today, it’s over seven fifty children and families. And I think what makes it really unique is the fact that we’re able to combine education, social services, and health. And that’s not only physical health with the Children’s Mercy Clinic and a smoke dental clinic inside, but also behavioral health. We have a full clinical team working with children’s as young as preschool all the way through our teens. So when you describe that, and we’ve talked to many organizations, not everybody has that continuum of care or thought. You’re really touching all aspects and really reminds me a little bit of social determinants of health. And you all have understood, hey, we can’t just address this health need. We have to address education and those types of things. Why is that important to the organization? Well, I think even early on when they were creating Operation Breakthrough was what happened outside our doors was just as important as what happened inside. So when you look back in the early days, they still had that continuum all the way to teens. But then as money got tighter, ages would shorten and we were down to elementary. And fortunately, the last ten years, we’ve been able to grow back into teens because think about it, when you’re a teenager, you’re making those decisions that are critical for shaping the rest of your life. And so I love that fact that we can really hit those developmental milestones in the early years, we can make sure kids are on track in the grade level years. Then as teens workforce development and entrepreneurship, how am I going to live and work in the communities around us? And I think that’s critical. So fifty five years, how’s the organization evolved over that time? I mean, not just in size, but I think in programming. I think in the early days, it was easy to fund an organization like Operation Breakthrough because of the great need. And I think we’ve seen a shift in philanthropy over the years that people are looking more not just at need, but impact. Like are we impacting the children and families that we serve? And that’s, I think where I see it having changed is we’re able to really demonstrate the impact that we’re having. One of the biggest questions I always get is what happens to the kids that you serve? And we’re able to really see that progression through the years. Well, we want to hear about some of those stories about impacting kids. But before we get to that part, can you give a little more detail around the different programs? Because not everyone’s going to be aware, you all do a lot and you’re touching every aspect of life. It’d be great. I’d love to hear from some of those programs from the both of you. Great. Well, I’ll jump in quick and then I’ll pass it to So in our early care and education program, we’re serving four thirty two little ones. So that’s birth all the way up to age five. And we’re doing a lot of preventative services, music therapy, there’s small group work, but it’s everything kids need in terms of their physical development, their cognitive development, their social emotional. And a lot of our parents weren’t necessarily raised by their parents. They might have been in children’s services. So we’re also providing extra classes for parents. So they know and have the supports they need to be successful. And then we have before and after. So real quick, because I want to highlight because I don’t think when a lot of times when people think of your organization, just think of the kids. Yeah. You’re impacting parents as well. And I think that’s one of the things we don’t always appreciate or understand. And we’ve seen this in our education system. You have to touch all aspects of life. And you’re providing those services and opportunities for parents to plug in and connect as well. So we think of it as a two gen model. And the nice thing is we see every parent every day. Yeah. Because you’re having to come in and drop off, there’s no kind of drop off on the sidewalk and pop in. But every family is a social worker, a family advocate. So we’re setting goals. You don’t pay anything to go to operation breakthrough, but the expectation is you’re working, you’re in school or you’re in case management to help kind of fill any gaps that you have. So you can really move your family. I love you’re part of the team. So you’re gonna be part of the team and when people have belonging, it’s more than just showing up at something. It’s very cool. Wendy, what’s one of the programs that is you’ve been for six years now, just in your board president recently? What’s one of the programs that really stands out to you? When did Ignition Lab launch? That was your second year. Yeah, twenty one ish. So Mary spoke about our ability operations breakthroughs ability to expand into the high school years. The Ignition Lab started in twenty twenty one, which is amazing. And I have been able to watch kids build cars. I have been able to watch kids use a food truck, anywhere from culinary to selling their product. I’m trying to think the garden in the back is amazing. I mean, three d printing. I actually have a little cute carrot key chain that’s on my desk right now. What these kids graphic design. I mean, I could keep going on and on because one of the things we do in our board meetings is there’s always a mission moment. So to start every board meeting, kids come in from different parts of Operation Breakthrough and show what they’re doing. So I think in the last board meeting, I was at two kids came in and they showed this robot that they had to create that would shoot a ball into a basket. And so they were part of a robotics program and a robotics competition. But what we are able to provide for the kids in high school on that technical and that trade learning that is so important is probably beyond our wildest dreams. I’ve been super excited about Well, when I hear you talk about that, I didn’t even mean, I didn’t know all that. That’s amazing. I mean, working on three d printing and the entrepreneurship and those pieces is you’re not just teaching skills or taking time and doing fun things or things to challenge or get people around their curiosity, you’re teaching them the dream. And I can only imagine for some people they may not think, I don’t know if that’s available to me or that’s not here. You’re teaching them, why not you? Yeah, for sure. You can do this and you’re connecting them with other people that can help them with those dreams. Is that a fair thought? I definitely think so. We expanded in twenty eighteen. And that’s where you see that bridge across Jews, where we were able to almost double the number of kids we were serving. But we put in a maker city at that point, because we wanted our before and after school programming to be more than just a place to be after school. And so that’s really where kids learn what they’re passionate about. There’s nine different labs, everything from textiles, construction, robotics, and then there’s studio arts, life science. So kids can really dig in, get their hands dirty, and figure out this is something I love or maybe not. But we’re also working on helping them to become more self directed learners. And for parents, it means whenever school’s out, we’re there. So a lot of times you’re seeing schools closed for snow and other things. We try to be open because it keeps families working, and it keeps kids in a safe and then an educational growing environment. Well, and for many of them, let’s be candid, it’s probably the highlight of the day. I remember I was part of several after school programs. And I used to remember being in school. I can’t wait to get to that program. But it wasn’t just about the opportunity to create or build or those things. We didn’t have things like Maker. We didn’t call them Maker Things at this point. Now everything’s got a really cool name, But it was the relationships. It was the opportunity to connect with someone that was I love that word safe. I could go there and I knew that I was going to be accepted, belonging. This was a place that when I walked through the door, super happy to see me. And it sounds like that’s the environment you all have created. I mean, if I had to guess, I would guess Mary knows every kid’s name. Kids. I mean, there’s a lot. But I mean, out of the seven fifty, it’s a lot. The other thing that whether it’s now or you want to touch on it later. But the other really cool thing that we’ve done in the last couple of years is create our own school. And I’m not sure you know much about that. No, I don’t. Tell us about it. Why don’t you expand a little bit on Sure. So one of the things we’re seeing is we were sending kids to school ready. Yeah. And sometimes the next summer they would return having regressed. And we thought, what if we can continue those strong wraparound services, but to do it through elementary school. So we have a new school that’s been approved by let’s say it’s called Breakthrough Academy, and it’ll be pre k through fifth grade. And what I love about it, it’s to show that all kids can learn at high levels regardless of any challenges. And so we did a two years of pilot just to make sure that what we thought were our outcomes would actually be our outcomes. And next year, for the first time, we’ll have literally about one hundred and thirty kids in pre k all the way up to fifth grade. And so once they get to fifth grade, then they’re able to connect into the public education system and there’s a good partnership there? We have a lot of partner schools. When you think about the seven fifty children, of those about two eighty are in the before and after. So every morning, we have about twenty one buses that come in. So kids come over the bridge, they have breakfast, their bus comes and picks them up and they bring them back. And one of the important things just for families in regards to that, that means that it doesn’t matter how many times you move as a family, you can stay in your school. I have one Wendy, I didn’t know about that. So I think that’s really cool. We have a value here at Netsmart called See No Walls. Absolutely see no walls. See opportunity and to go to the thought of, hey, why not let’s start a school. And I’m sure when you first said that people like, what are you talking about? We got a lot going on. No, I think we should start a school. We should do it K through fifth grade and you went and made it happen. So how many years has school been around now? So this will be our third That’s awesome. And we did pilot it because I’m kind of a data geek. So I always wanna see what is the data telling us. So like right now, on my wall, I have all the kids that are off track that we need to change what we’re doing to make sure by the time summer hits, they are ready for school in all domains. So we wanted to take a minute and look at the data and then push forward. I love it. You would fit in really well here. Yeah, yeah. Data as well. I’m just curious. I’m sitting here thinking about it. You’re RC no walls is really your operational operation breakthrough. Yeah, it’s like we’re just going, where did that name come from? The sisters found that they wanted something back when they started during the war, and they wanted something, a name that kind of sounded like they were supporting. And it’s really though at its core, it’s about breaking through intergenerational poverty. I love it. And I think that what we’re doing is to really push forward. I think about all of the skills that kids are attaining right now in our high school, and that’s really going to change futures that are available to them. Well, I think before we get into some of the stories and some of the moments that you look back and say, this is how we change a person’s life. You used a term there that I don’t think everyone appreciates and understands, generational poverty. If you don’t mind talking about that, what it is and why that’s such a big deal. Because what you’re hitting at is there’s this cycle that doesn’t stop and there’s a causation, causation around it. I’d love for our listeners to hear from you why that’s important for us to understand it. Because you’re really getting to the heart of not just symptoms or challenges people are dealing with, but if we’re gonna change a family tree, this is how we change it. Well, and I’ll start with there’s a there’s a there’s a survey called the adverse childhood experiences survey, we do with our families. And and what that is is adversities, that children oftentimes face. And research has shown that oftentimes, if there’s nothing that mitigates that, those are gonna be the same types of adversities that their own children experience. Everything from an incarcerated parents, exposure to poverty, exposure to violence. I mean, for us, for example, just in the last year, we’ve had fifteen children lose a parent. So so you wanna be able to find a way to mitigate that. Yeah. And so for us, we do a lot of preventative push in early. Yeah. Our music therapists are really there to help kids build strong relationships. And you see it all the way through all the programming that we have. Well, and when you were talking about that and you mentioned music therapy earlier, there’s a lot of trauma that happens and you’re using that to help have safe conversations and people unpack those and understand that piece of it. What other kind of mental health type services or programming do you provide? So we do a lot of small group. We do a lot of one on one. As we get closer with as teens get older, there’s a program that the therapist do. One is I love they push into schools because there’s not enough time after school, but they also have a program called sparks. So wait a minute, not only are you doing things in your own four walls because you don’t have enough to do, you’re now going out into the community and going to the schools. And we bus in another seven hundred kids from schools during the day because we felt like the community has invested so much in us. How could you leave those spaces empty during the day? So literally, we’re bussing in from local middle schools and high schools, so kids can get access to the workforce development or entrepreneurship, or financial literacy, or in terms of of our maker city, just career exploration. That’s amazing. But the one of the groups that we were talking about in terms of how are we preparing kids to thrive, the Sparks group I love because it’s really helping kids copes. Sister Bird, our founder, used to always say, sometimes you have to make a bad decision and a bad decision, but you still have to make one. And so once we make that, it helps kids to understand how do I live and thrive with whatever’s happening in my life. Whether it’s trauma, whether it’s choices I’ve made, or whether it’s just circumstances I live in. Well, I love that. And we’ve all dealt some things find us in life, some things we find, but we have to choose forward. And I love how you phrase that, you’re helping people make those choices. And however their feet find them, wherever their feet find them, let us help you take that next step. And I think in today’s world, when there’s so much noise and so much challenge, just giving that light, that hope can be all the difference in someone’s life. And sometimes that’s what they need, especially if they’re in a really challenging environment. How cool is that? And I think that’s a great segue to stories and people. So if you don’t mind, so you got all these wonderful programs. I know you have barriers, but I don’t think you see any barriers and challenges. And we’ll get to that at the end. You have people coming to you, you’re going to people, you’re bussing people in. Is this having an impact? Is this changing lives? And what would some of those stories and moments be for you? I think it really changes lives. I really see it in our high school students. So recently, we had a student come out of our computer tech program and started an internship with a local company. Was kind of fall semester, and he got his job offer yesterday. He said, take a half today. And his half day was to come to Operation Breakthrough to just let his facilitator, his lab teacher know that, hey, I’m there full time now, which to me is just one of those opportunities that you have to love. Sometimes for us, it’s basic, basic needs. Like if you remember when the government shutdown occurred and a lot of families lost food stamps. Well, we went from serving one hundred and seventy families a week in the pantry to like one hundred and fifty families a day. And so I mean, some of those are the stories where families don’t have to worry about what that next day looks like when life is tough. But I love our teens. There’s a there’s a great story. We were interviewing families for our upcoming video. We do one video to just showcase, and and the mom was a little teary saying, know, I hope I’m doing the right thing. I, And these two teenagers who’s been us for a while, they stopped the video they were making and they said, you are doing the right thing. Let me tell you about my experience. And I’m just watching. So our kids are not only doing successfully from a life standpoint, but their ability to care and empathize with others to me is a win. And then there’s sometimes we do capstones I was thinking about the in the spring. And that’s gonna be something where I’m gonna encourage listeners to say, if you wanna just your toe in the water, that’s a great way. Right. But all of our teenagers have to do a capstone in the fall and the spring. And so they talk a little bit about what they’ve been working on, the skills or credentials they’ve acquired, but then they showcase a project that they’ve dealt with. My favorite is still first year. One of the students built lie detector gloves. So he was in digital electronics and decided that would be a great way to see if people are being truthful. And so his principal happened to be in the panel. And of course, suggested maybe he should keep a pair in his office. Only had the screening. And so that was great one. And then another one, I think that is a great example of what kids can accomplish is we had all of the kids two summers ago work with a nonprofit and create a project. And one group did for flourish home furnishings. Yeah. They did these welcome home kits. And so they laser cut these amazing boxes, and they had made hooks and tool handles. And then they started to realize, well, no one can see what’s in the box. They’re spending all this time. So they did a whole packaging exercise and ended up with a hang tag. And, of course, they flew off the shelves. But just that idea of we’re in it not just for ourselves, for others. All of our teens have to at least do a half day mentoring in the summer. This summer, we’ll have two twenty. So you talked about relationships. I mean, they’re building relationships with our littles, and then they’re working in the labs or other other kids. And imagine what that’s like. I mean, always say, are you the one that we want our kids to look up to when we make our choices? So those to me are just some of those examples. Today was a great week. We partner with a lot of other nonprofits. And we had a family that we grandparents raising grandchildren. Yeah. And we needed to get them into the grand families housing. And we had to take care of some past responsibilities, and we were able to collaborate with others. And I believe they’re going to get to move in. So sometimes it takes the whole community to help us do what we do from people and companies. Well, you’re hitting on one of our passions. One of our other values is NetSmart’s a team sport. We’ve lived life I love that. Life’s a team sport. That’s so good. And you’ve made community a team sport. We all want healthy, thriving and well-being communities. It doesn’t happen by us standing around and critiquing. It does exactly, we have to pitch in. We’re going to talk about that here around volunteering in a second, but something you just said stood out to me. I think so many times people look at programs, what’s the graduation rate or what’s the literacy rate on this? And they’re looking for those little pieces, but you hit on the thing that probably is the most important. When the student got their job, they wanted to come back and tell everyone else about it. That’s heart. More than empathy. That’s them wanting to give back to a community that’s given to them. I love the example you gave where, hey, they were interviewing two students and the mom wasn’t sure if they wanted to do and they stopped the video. And they said, hey, they had a moment with her and said, you absolutely did the right thing. We don’t always measure those things. And yet those are the things that matter the most. And I love that you did, you just rattled that off like it was nothing. And I know many organizations would love to have that kind of commitment, not measuring just how many meals do we give out and those types of things, life change. How did that culture come to be? I think it started with the founders. I mean, you look back that same mission that started day one is still the same mission today. I think it’s one of the most mission driven staffs that I’ve participated on. And I feel like you see it in the families and you see it in the kids. One program I forgot to tell you about this, one of my current favorites is our teams are getting their automotive certifications working towards that. They’re fixing family cars. Yeah. I mean, think about, it’s like a double impact. Big time. And they’re so proud of it. When they know what they’re doing and they know the impact. So it feels like last year, the kids did a video called Full Circle. Yeah. And one the things we were saying is, we see kids and families come full circle. They’ve been given to and they’re giving back to others. Well, I’m just sitting here for some people who may not realize if you’ve always had a vehicle in your life, just take it for granted. A car creates opportunity, a vehicle creates opportunity. So not only being able to have one, but maintain it is a game changer in life. That’s something can usually take for granted. Public transportation isn’t always easy or available out there or affordable. Yeah, it reminds me of the tour. So they offered a tour called The City You’ve Never Seen. And you can do it on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. And you do a bus tour around the communities that Operation Breakthrough serves for the most part. And I was able to do this with my almost fifteen year old on Monday. Like a class of probably thirty, I think there was like thirty three, fourteen and fifteen year old girls. And we did this tour, and we stopped at different places and different family members of Operation Breakthrough would come on the bus and give us a little bit of their story. And there was one woman in particular that came on to tell us about how she did not she did not have a car. And she had maybe three kids and maybe three in different schools. Wow. And how she would take the bus from one place to another and then a bus to another and then get to Operation Breakthrough. I mean, the taxing on these moms, dads, single parents, whoever they are grandparents, in many cases, is eye opening. Yes. For sure. But it was amazing to hear these, they happen to be women, talk about their perseverance and their willingness to do what they needed to do for their family and for their kids to give them something different than maybe what they had and the role that Operation Breakthrough played inside their families. The girls, they were raising their hands at every stop asking questions. It’s definitely something that was extremely eye opening for them. Most of them had probably never seen or heard any of these types of stories. And I’m so grateful they got to do it. And it was such a great experience. Well, perspective and context has a way of changing how we think. And we need to be open and exposed to those things even when they’re not super easy. Wendy, I’ve known you for many years now. You’re very cause connected, very mission driven on this piece of it. Let’s talk a little bit about your why. And you’ve mentioned a little bit, hey, I wanted a place not just a volunteer. And this isn’t something you do just so you can say, hey, look what I’m doing. When I hear you talk about this, your face lights up, your smile when you’re talking about the lives and the programs and those things down there for our listeners. Talk a little bit about why it’s not like you’re not busy. I know you’ve got a lot going on. And I’m sure it would be easy to say, man, I’m too busy to do this. But I know how committed you are to this, how important it is. Can you share with our listeners your why and what made you jump in? Yeah, I mean, the why I got there I talked about, right? And you kind of think of it as I’m going to give my time. But Tom, you’ve always used the terms time, talent and treasure. And I think that’s such an important part. Because not only can I give my time, but I can give my expertise? We were writing COVID regulations whatever. All fun stuff. But you can give your treasure, can give your treasure, which is obviously much appreciated. You give your talent, but there’s so many ways that every person can be impactful in a life. And so if you only have to spend an hour at Operation Breakthrough to have one kid come up to you. I remember Abby and I were doing some like after school tutoring or whatever. I think we were doing like math flashcards or something. And you spend like one hour. And these the kids faces light up, you know, you’re their new best friend. And you know, you’re going to have an impact. Yeah. And it’s pretty hard not to want to stay engaged. So with something like that where you can see and being a part of the board, I get to hear all the amazing, you know, like just in the time that I’ve been there, Ignition Lab is open. We started a school and there’s like a bajillion things in between that have happened. And honestly, if it isn’t if it wasn’t for people like Mary, it would be a shame for what’s happening in our community. But we do have people like Mary and a lot of other people out there that are creating these amazing spaces for children and families. And we need more and more people in whichever way they can give, whether it’s Operation Breakthrough or other organizations. But it’s just as you’ve said it before, but I want to live in a community that I can continue to uplift. And so as much as I can be a part of organizations that have that same mission or goal, I’m all in. And that’s what Operation Breakthrough has been for me. Well, if you’re joining us today, we’re talking with the President and CEO of Operation Breakthrough. We’re also talking with my colleague, Wendy, who’s more than just a volunteer there. She’s super passionate and advocate for this program. And this is really what our Everyday Matters podcast is all about. It’s about this opportunity to hear about the undercurrent, the fabric of our community, the heart of our community, and things that often aren’t seen but are so impactful and vital to the things we do. And as we continue to talk, I think we should all pause and reflect on our roles and how we can be able to do that. Because we segue into this next part of the conversation, it’s going to be very much not just about what’s happening for people, but what happens to the people who are helping. Because I think we’ve heard this notion before, for as much as we try to give, I know in volunteering, you get so much more in return. And Wendy, I think it’s a great question for you is what impact does this had on your family? I know you’ve passionately talked about that for them. How is this spoken to them? I think for each of the girls, they’re going to always do things in a different way. They’re very different human beings. But I see them always wanting, so every year now, the girls will ask me, what can good are we going to get for Thanksgiving? So they’re being proactive about it, which is all I wanted. So I want to introduce them to something. I want them to understand why empathy is important. I want them to understand that they can do a role even if they’re thirteen years old. And they have. And so I don’t remember what we did last year. Might have been cranberries. Right. A year before that was mushroom soup or whatever. But as much as I can set this mindset with my kids of they can do the littlest thing, food drive, which isn’t even a little thing. It’s a big thing. But they don’t have to be an adult. Can do it as a kid. They can come and they can mentor and they can see it. I just want to kind of get that ingrained in my kids so that when they do become adults, they’re giving back to their community and they’re hopefully doing the same thing for their kids. It’s kind of the generational piece, right? Like, how do we continue to break generational poverty? But at the same time, how do we create generational giving? And I think it’s really important. Well, it’s a ripples of goodness that has to go out. And it really underscores our name around our own 501c3. The notion is just what can you do today, right here, right now? Maybe a conversation, maybe doing a podcast, maybe doing a food drive, it may be spending an hour just at a volunteer organization. And that’s why these conversations are so important because we hear all the other noise. How often do we hear about organizations like this? Mary, twelve years, fifty five year old organization, you have an amazing story. How did you find yourself here and why is this so important to you? Well, it was really interesting because I’ve been in education for over Well, now it’s been forty years. And so I’ve been doing work with persistently failing schools. I’ve been in Kansas City, but then had an opportunity to work with persistently failing schools in Detroit. And it was time to come back to Kansas City. Our kids had decided to settle in. And my husband and I were both doing nonprofit work at the time. And it was either be a superintendent or Operation Breakthrough was open. And for me, it was like, what an opportunity because the impact that we can have by making sure that kids enter school ready, there’s no greater gift that we can give. And so the opportunity to do that, but also to create experiences for kids between five and eighteen that really capitalize on learning and application for me was such a win. So it feels like yesterday that I started. Yes. But it’s just flown by. Oh, I can only imagine and so much has changed over that time and so much challenges. If you think about all the challenges we’ve had just in the last five years alone, you’ve really helped navigate an organization through maybe some of the most tumultuous period of the fifty five year history. Well, and our board’s been really interesting because they’re very active in terms of thinking strategically. And when I started in that still kind of helped shape, do we need to do what we do, do it better, do it more, do it longer? And so when you think about that over the twelve years, we’ve added classrooms down at one of the local high schools. We did the expansion where we could serve more children. And now we’re serving our teens. The board has been instrumental in not only asking the tough questions, but in helping implement it. And then the community, we have the most generous community I’ve ever experienced. Because once you have that idea and you can share what the potential impact is, you have to have someone that’s going to help you bring it home. Yeah, it truly takes team Yeah, it takes village. Everybody’s got to come together. These things just don’t happen. So I’m just curious, where’s Operation Breakthrough going? Well, we’ve got our school. And for us, our next project is we want to do some expansion in our teen programming. We’re in the process of adding some nature components because we know how important exposure to nature is for young children. We’re doing some You mean being outside? Yeah, yeah. To some of us Gen Xers, we grew up outside. We grew up under the street lights. Not in green space. And now in non screens. And I love that you’re, let’s go bring something back again and get people outside. So I’ve got a list. Okay. Yeah. But anyway, and more entrepreneurship, our goal with the Ignition Lab was to not just help kids earn credentials partner with businesses on projects, but to also learn what it’s like to work for yourself or work for others. So we’ve got a couple three of those are up and running. Actually, four. We’ve got our our digital media lab and our food truck and our hydroponic farm and our pop up. That’s awesome. But I’d like to see more of that for teens because I think when you run a business, you learn that what on the surface looks easy, you have to be resilient. A lot of what we do is about relationships and resilience. I love the resiliency mindset and that’s part of our own mental health. Well, we’re going to face challenges. And how do you navigate those challenges? Challenge doesn’t mean that it wasn’t meant to work out. It’s no. Now we have to adapt and pivot and overcome and be able to do those things. So I think the last topic I want to really talk about is we have listeners today, some are active volunteers, some aren’t volunteering. We have businesses listening today who are trying to figure out why is this so important. Mary, I’ll start with you. There’s volunteers that are, there’s people out there listening right now. They’re probably thinking you’ve got this covered. You don’t need any of my help. You don’t need my time, talent or treasure. You’re doing so much. I’m guessing you’re just fine. Is that a fair statement? That would be not. It’s interesting because when Wendy brought up the bus tour, the city you never see, when we end that, I always say, so now what? You see the need in our community. And I always say, think about it personally, civically. Because personally, whether it’s Operation Breakthrough or any other nonprofit, we find that when people share their talents with others, great things happen. And and we can see it over and over again in those that come in and spend time with students. Whether it’s a two year old, a ten year old, or a teenager, you can make a world of difference. Professionally, I say mentor. However you can, the number one thing our alumni, kids who’ve gone through the program say the biggest impact for me was having a mentor at some So I think that’s critical. And then I think civically, we all just have to be aware of what’s happening around us and how it impacts those that are the most vulnerable. And the last year has been a great example for that of what can happen when we don’t dig deeper into some of the things that are happening at the local level, the state level, or the national level. So that’s what I would say to everyone. Now if you wanna know personally at Operation Breakthrough, I’d say, come in and spend time with children, whether it’s tutoring or but we also have non child facing roles. I mean, the food pantry, the clothing closet, the emergency services. I mean, there’s all kinds of things that you can do to impact a life. Yeah, it’s not if there’s something, it’s what would that be? There’s plenty of opportunity. And I think sometimes it’s just giving out from our own insecurities and saying, hey, I’m gonna go do this. It’s gonna be uncomfortable, maybe a little awkward in the beginning, but just show up. That’s why I tell people, well, what can’t you just show up? We’ll figure it out. There is so much to do. You will find that. Well, Mary, can I interrupt real quick? Mary gave an example earlier of the capstone. She talked about the capstone. That is such a good way to I mean, you’re volunteering for a couple hours, It’s like an hour, maybe. It’s such a good entry into understanding Operation Brave. And if you want, you could do the culinary session, is what I like to And then I try food. But there’s so many different options. It’s such a great way to see the amazing work these kids are doing and to see how they have learned their presentation skills. Because a lot of them will be a little bit insecure about presenting. So you help them with their presenting. But that is also such a great way to just get in, see Operation Breakthrough and see what the kids are doing. And then you’ll be like, Oh, well, now I can do so much. It’s not like you’re just sitting and listening either because our goal is for kids to be able to demonstrate all those employability skills. Like, I’m a strong communicator, I’m insightful when I’m asked questions, I can demonstrate how I problem solve. So that interaction back and forth between the panel and the kids, it’s just priceless. Well, and it’s the human interaction. We’re not doing it over digital or social media and those types of things. We’re doing it where I think it’s so critical. And that is just me like we’re sitting here having a conversation and those soft skills can solve a lot of challenges create a lot of opportunities in life. Wendy, you and the team and our associates do a phenomenal job volunteering. Organizations are listening right now. There might be someone saying out there, well, my company does invest this much into it. And ended up people saying, yeah, is this really the thing that we need to be doing? Should we focus our time? What would you tell those businesses who are trying to figure out if this should be a priority for them or not? Yeah, I mean, I hate to say that it should just be a no brainer, but I do feel like that a little bit. Think that your ability to give back and to be a part of the community is such a direct impact on the culture of your own company. It brings a lot of trust. It brings a lot of collaboration. It brings relationships. Mean, there’s so much goodness that it does from an internal perspective by just giving back that your decision to go, whether it’s partner with one or partner with several, it doesn’t matter. But your opportunities to go impact the communities where you live and work only will bring goodness into your own culture. So if they wanted to start, what would you tell them? I always think about what I did. Think about what’s important to you. I named off at the beginning, I wanted to something with kids. I wanted to do something with mental health and I wanted to do something that my family. So what are the three things that are important to you? Was there something that you experienced as a child that was really important to you? Is there something that you experienced with a parent that was really important to you? Doesn’t even matter. Yeah. But just understand it’s kind of that purple, be purposeful because it doesn’t it never seems like a chore when it’s something that you are just extremely passionate about for whatever reason is here. And that’s where I would start. What’s important to you? And then do some research is easy now. And there’s plenty of opportunities around our community locally, but communities wherever to get involved in community and places like Operation Breakthrough and people like Mary are always willing to help people understand how can help and support their And remove the barriers. And remove the barriers. We have a couple of partners where their employees, they’re not going to drive all the way down thirty first and truce. We bring the kids there. So we have some that have done robotics practice where it’s four Mondays and you can spend an hour learning and practicing with students, something that simple. In another case, we’re trying this spring, we have some kids that are going to go to a company because they have individuals that wanna do capstones. Or we’ve come out and just hosted a STEM challenge where you partner. And then our goal at the end of it is you talk to the kids about your journey. Because we’re also trying to help our kids understand that you don’t just suddenly decide I’m going to do this and life is a straight line. It’s got a lot of curves. And so those are great. Another great one is Life Fridays, where you can come in and talk with teens about your job, your role, and how you got there. And that tends to be super interactive. So I can list. We have opportunities for five year olds where you can decorate birthday bags. Because on kids’ birthday, every child gets a birthday And so you can just come in, pick up some bags, take them home and have a fun family night decorating birthday bags. So I mean, they’re little and they’re big, but there’s lots. I love it. The world is heavy these days, lots of noise. We’re all feeling it. And sometimes we express it. Sometimes people are sharing their frustration. And I think if we channeled our energy into organizations, like what you all are doing, it would do more good than any venting that we could put out there. And sometimes the answer we’re looking for is just jumping in and showing up and saying, how can I make a difference? Or how can we make every day matter? Last thought, and maybe it’s a question, maybe it’s a statement. But if you could summarize Operation Breakthrough in a thought, in a story, in a moment that you want our listeners to walk away from, what would it be? Wendy, we’ll start with you. Oh gosh, that was putting me on the spot. When I think of operation breakthrough, I think of full community because the staff, they look at all the families as their family. So it’s just an amazing place to step foot in because you can see the impact. It’s almost palpable when you’re in the building. And so when I think of it, the word that comes to mind, they’re safe. I know we’ve used but familial. Is that the word? Yeah. Yeah. I’m like, is that the word? Yeah. And community. Yeah. I mean, that’s how you feel when you’re there. Love it. Beautiful. Mary? I think that when I when I think of Operation Breakthrough and what I wanna share is the fact that these are the children of the future for Kansas And we all have the opportunity and the responsibility to make sure that they can make an impact when they grow up because it will impact us all. And I that’s where we have to start as a community. When we wrap ourselves around our most vulnerable children, great things happen. Yeah. I love it. Think as people walk away from today’s podcast, hope they recognize there’s absolutely need, there’s opportunity, and there’s differences being made. Wendy, I want to thank you, if you want to see a really cool story, Wendy posted on her LinkedIn, a beautiful picture of a gift that you were given and as a story about Operation Breakthrough. And I encourage you to go out there and see that. And I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s definitely worth going and looking at. But I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your leadership, your volunteerism, sharing your heart and your passion. It’s not just something you talk about. And as our Chief People Officer, this is something you live out in everything you do in your life. And that was one of the things that we really wanted to get through in today’s podcast is why not us? Why not you? Why not all of us coming together? And Mary, when I think about innovator, disruptor, someone who isn’t just going to be satisfied with status quo, man, you come to mind, the stories, the passion and everything you share. I feel like we could talk. I’m thinking we’ve only heard maybe a few of the programs you’ve done, because there isn’t anything that you’ve not seen that you’re like, if there’s a will, there’s a way. And on behalf of our community, I want to thank you for the twelve years you’ve put in, for the many more years that you’ve put in and everything you’ve done, your passion and heart come through. Much appreciation and thank you for joining us today. And I wanted to encourage everyone. That’s what today is about. We’re just having a conversation. And I think we’re all more alike than not. We’re all having conversations within ourselves, our families, with our loved ones and our friends. How can we make a difference? And today, it was spoken clearly. It was spoken beautifully. You make a difference by showing up, by pressing in, giving of your time, talent, treasure. How can I help others? And in doing so, we not only help ourselves, we help our communities. We all want healthy and thriving communities to live in, to work in, to play in, and to enjoy. And that happens when we come together. It really happens when we’re passionate about making every day matter. Thank you for joining us today and until next time, let’s all be the difference. Much appreciation. You’ve been listening to Everyday Matters, a NetSmart podcast. Keep connected with us by subscribing to the show in your favorite podcast player. If you like what you’ve heard, please rate the show. That helps us keep sharing the stories that inspire our communities. Thanks for listening. Until next time.