LifeROOTS on Comcast's It's All Good New Mexico

LifeROOTS is featured on Comcast's It's All Good New Mexico program. The video displays the services that we provide to children and adults with physical, behavioral and developmental disabilities in Albuqueruqe, Rio Rancho and surrounding areas.

Cable TV viewers from across the state are talking about refreshingly POSITIVE stories. IT'S ALL GOOD NEW MEXICO highlights the people, organizations, businesses and employers that are doing GOOD things in our communities. Comcast Spotlight produces these unique one minute segments, profiling the good folks that are giving back to New Mexico. These POSITIVE NEWS STORIES air on various cable TV networks (such as: USA, Lifetime, TNT, Discovery, etc) on over 20 local cable systems across the entire state.

LifeROOTS trains the disabled for jobs

New Mexico Business Weekly by Megan Kamerick, NMBW Senior Reporter Date: Friday, October 14, 2011, 4:00am MDT

The job picture continues to look bleak for many Americans. But for those with disabilities, it’s even worse.

The unemployment rate for New Mexicans with any disability was 19.1 percent in 2009, according to the 2009 American Community Survey.

A new program by an Albuquerque nonprofit is aimed at those who need some of the most basic skills to enter the work force, such as making correct change and interacting with others.

RCI Inc., which changed its name earlier this year to LifeROOTS, kept its mission intact: Helping people with a variety of disabilities reach their highest levels of self-sufficiency.

LifeROOTS’ clients have a huge range of skills, said Kathleen Cates, interim CEO, including software development. The nonprofit also has contracts to provide custodial services. But some people might not want, or be able, to work a full-time job.

Several years ago, LifeROOTS launched a program called Feed Me Now to help its clients gain basic skills. It was so successful, the nonprofit decided to share it with the larger community. Now there’s a growing list of businesses and organizations taking part.

As part of LifeROOTS’ Career Discovery program, the nonprofit purchased a little red cart and stocked it with food and drinks. Once a day, a client makes the rounds of the office accompanied by a job coach, learning how to make change, and practicing customer service skills.

Cates saw an opportunity to expand the service to other offices, which would bring more exposure to LifeROOTS while helping its clients.

“And every office needs access to some beef jerky, so they don’t have to leave for lunch,” she joked.

To date, Yearout Mechanical Inc., Image Concepts, WHPacific Inc.  , the Whitener Law Firm and the University of New Mexico  Center for Development and Disability have signed up. U.S. Bank is the newest to join and LifeROOTS client Michelle Eckles made her inaugural run there this week, accompanied by job coach Patricia Tafoya and Frank Gaona, who supervises all the job coaches at LifeROOTS.

Although the project started a month ago, Gaona said he has already seen a difference in the nonprofit’s clients.

They tend to engage customers more readily and that’s a big step for a population that’s not very outgoing, he explained. One client was timid initially, but now she regularly chats with customers about her pets, and brings pictures to show the customers, he said.

It’s been good for the wider community to interact with people with disabilities, he added. He has worked in this field for 10 years and said one of the biggest gaps to bridge is with people who don’t have disabilities. They wonder how to communicate with those who do, he said.

“They have pets, they have lives, they have bills. They’re just like us,” Gaona said. “So we’re getting that message out.”

Eckles and Tafoya rolled the bright red cart into U.S. Bank’s break room this week. A small stream of employees began trickling in to check out the bagels, fruit, candy and other snacks.

Tafoya occasionally steps in to help Eckles count out correct change or find a price, but Eckles was clearly comfortable. At 42, she lives in an apartment with a part-time caregiver and also works about four hours each week at a Dollar Tree store.

Donna McKiernan, who oversees the program as part of Career Discovery, also takes clients shopping to stock up on items for the carts. They learn to look for deals and shop competitively among stores.

“They pretty much run the business,” McKiernan said. “They count the money and count the extra. That’s their profit.”

LifeROOTS' clients are paid minimum wage and the idea is to ensure the service brings in enough to pay for the food, the client and a job coach, Cates said. That’s about $30 for a one-hour stop at a business.

LifeROOTS also sells handmade cards from the cart made by its job center clients in Rio Rancho.

Sandra Pisto, who works in community support with U.S. Bank, said the banking company wanted to extend its reach into the community. The LifeROOTS clients will come to three U.S Bank locations initially, although that could be extended to include other offices.

A Grand Opening for LifeROOTS

Mayor Tom Swisstack, middle, helps cut the ribbon at the official grand opening Thursday of LifeROOTS in Rio Rancho. LifeROOTS recently changed its name from RCI to more effectively reflect its mission -- helping disabled people from the beginning of their lives.

Bring the Holidays to Life

LifeROOTS has just launched a beautiful new line of holiday cards for the 2011/2012 season.  The cards were designed, created and produced by members of the LifeROOTS program – and showcase the tremendous dedication, commitment and talent of the programs members who are all living with a disability …  and who have found their passion in art.

LifeROOTS Holiday Cards are available in a package of 10 cards priced at $20, and are available as both Christmas cards and New Years cards.  Each card was designed and created by the loving hands, kind heart  and diligent, passionate work of a person living with a disability.

Cards are available to order online at www.liferootsnm.org. In addition, to request an order form, call 505-255-5501. For more information about the 2011/2012 LifeROOTS Holiday Cards, and to view sample cards and designs, visit www.liferootsnm.org.

Celebrate Disabled's Role in Workplace

By Kathleen Holmes Cates / Interim CEO/President, LifeROOTS, Inc as posted in the Albuquerque Journal on October 20, 2011

With October marking the annual celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, our nation’s attention has once again turned toward the important role that people with disabilities can, and should, have in today’s workplace.

The heightened awareness that this designated month brings is an important start in educating the public about the value of hiring people with disabilities; however, the issue of disability employment is something that is not only to be recognized each year in October, but to be recognized by companies and organizations year-round – with more of our local businesses truly recognizing how hiring people with disabilities not only can enhance the lives of people with disabilities, but also can enhance the bottom line of their business.

Hiring people with disabilities makes sense for so many reasons.

First and foremost, supporting a community of people who are an integral part of our community – and giving them the same opportunities as everyone else – is just, simply, the right thing to do. People with disabilities pay taxes, they volunteer in the communities in which they live and, most important, they want to work.

Not only do they want to work, but they do their work exceptionally well – with studies showing that 90 percent of people with disabilities rated average or better on job performance, 98 percent of employees with disabilities rated average or better in work safety … and 86 percent of people with disabilities rated average or better on attendance.

Most successful business owners and managers have realized that diversity in the workplace has increased their visibility, sustainability and economic growth. I am asking business owners and managers not to forget that individuals with disabilities are an intricate part of that diversity.

Most individuals with disabilities can maintain competitive employment with only a few reasonable accommodations from their employer. Some individuals may need more intensive support. There are many not-for-profits that can help supply that support so that the employer can focus on the tasks being accomplished.

When businesses hire people with disabilities, everyone wins.

Businesses tap into a pool of highly motivated, skilled and hardworking employees with the highest quality of workmanship in mind. Company morale goes up – with studies showing that employing people with disabilities has a distinct, positive effect on staff morale. Most important, people with disabilities get the opportunity to not only secure an income, but to foster their independence, gain a vital social network – and feel a true sense of happiness and “belonging” as they work in meaningful, productive jobs within the community.

Let’s continue to raise awareness about the benefits of employing people with disabilities in the months, and years, ahead – and continue to benefit from the skills, talent, and dedication, that people with disabilities can bring to the workplace.