We're diving into an inspiring conversation with Mona Lazarus and her daughter, Rachelle, the dynamic duo behind the Kentucky Y' All Icebox and the nonprofit Dream Grant County. At the heart of our chat is how these two are transforming lives in Grant County, one scoop of ice cream at a time, by creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. We explore the journey that led to the birth of Dream Grant County, which aims to empower and accept those with differing abilities, ensuring they have a place in the community. Mona shares her vision for a future complex that will feature recreational activities, an art studio, and a bakery, all designed to provide jobs and a sense of purpose. Join us as we celebrate their mission and discuss how this local gem is not just serving delicious ice cream but also fostering inclusivity in their community.

Takeaways:

• Dream Grant County focuses on creating meaningful employment opportunities for differently abled individuals in our community.
• The Kentucky Y'All Icebox not only serves delicious ice cream, but also acts as a platform for social change.
• Their vision for Dream Grant County includes expanding to a larger facility with various recreational activities and job roles for all ability levels.
• Community involvement is crucial; local support helps sustain their mission and initiatives effectively.
• The Kentucky Dream Storytelling Festival: A wonderful event designed to raise awareness and support for Dream Grant County. Festival is happening on Saturday, Oct. 18., at the Williamstown Performing Arts Center at Williamstown Independent Schools.
• The all-day festival runs from 9:30 a.m. til 8:30 p.m. and features nationally known storytellers Andy Offutt Irwin, Kevin Kling, Kim Weitkamp, and Rachel Pollock.

Links referenced in this episode:

• dreamgrantco.org
• Toad Talk Media

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Kentucky Y' All Icebox
• Dream Grant County
• Photography and video content provided by No Blink Pictures, LLC
• Toad Talk Media

Welcome to We Are Grant County.

I'm your co host Katie Jimenez, and I wanted to start our episode with a quick introduction of our guests, Mona Lazarus and her daughter, Rachelle Lazarus Morse.

Now, some of our lovely local listeners may not be familiar with our guests by name, but possibly you may recognize their cute ice cream shop, the Kentucky Y' All Icebox on Main street in Williamstown. The Kentucky Y' All Icebox is where I first met Rachelle and her mother, Mona, and and learned about their organization, Dream Grant County.

After meeting them and learning more about their organization, all while sampling many delicious flavors of ice cream, Michelle and I have really wanted them on the pod to share their sweet story.

So today we explore how Dream Grant county came to be and what lies ahead, as well as how the Kentucky Y' All Icebox is changing lives one scoop at a time.

So again, thank you. Welcome, Mona and Rochelle.

We're glad to have you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity because, like, we were talking, like we were talking a few minutes ago, you know, shine a spotlight on Green County. I want to, you know, let everybody know kind of the good things that are going on.

So. And that's one of the best.

So what exactly is Dream Grant County?

Well, Dream Grant county is my dream that actually, I guess, started probably 15 years ago.

I am a retired special education teacher, finished my career at the high school, Grant County High School, and just got really tired of seeing our kids complete high school there with nothing to do afterwards. They, especially the ones with the more significant disabilities and, you know, there are few little programs here and there.

There's some assistance and some help that they can get with a few things.

But generally we're talking somebody would have to be really determined and family have to be really determined to be able to get a hold of those benefits and to follow through and to do anything. There's some great programs in the north and some great programs in the south of Grant county, but very little right here.

And so I just thought, we can change that. We can do something different. Our folks that were graduating were just like any other young people.

You know, they wanted to be airplane pilots and truck drivers and ballerinas and, you know, just, you know, whatever. But they, they wanted that opportunity to do something meaningful and they felt that they could and there present those opportunities here for them.

I love, I, I love that you've.

Like, recognized an issue and started to do something about it and take that initiative because not everybody would do that. So thank you. Thank you so much for that. So what kind of opportunities? Like, because right now, today we're at the. The Kentucky Y' All Icebox.

So what exactly is happening here that is kind of like, I guess, maybe a precursor to Dream Grant County?

Well, right now we're small. We're in a small building. You know, we have a small business, and so we are able to just hire a few people at this point to work in this business.

I'm finding particularly our folks with the more significant disabilities can't do some of the basic things that. That we would like. They can't run the register, and some of them. We wouldn't have scooped the ice cream and things like that.

So even though I have them here and I can find some. Some things for them to do, I'm kind of having to invent things, you know, as.

As we go, I have some of our folks that are maybe more interested in art, and so we're doing little arts and crafts things. And some of them, you know, the cleaning part, they like, they really resonate with that, and they're able to help with that. And so.

So the idea is that, you know, eventually, you know, when I have my. My big dream that I would be able to design jobs for people, people always said if I had that one person, all they could do is just clap and wave.

I wanted to be able to design a job for them.

So when I get a little frustrated sometimes here because I can't seem to find something for them to do, I just keep reminding myself, you know, be creative, be patient, and look for that one thing that might be the key for them.

You know, if I.

If I can interject, this has been my mom's vision for a long time, and she had applied for grants for years, and she was looking for some help so that she could build this facility that we know that can serve this community so much, so thoroughly.

And every time that she would apply for a grant, her response, if she got one at all, was, well, you don't have a physical location, so we're not just going to throw money at your concept. And she would always get so upset. Like, people are not just concepts. You know, this is a real thing.

And so her and I both had our own sort of setbacks. You know, for her, it was the lack of a place.

And I knew that I wanted to contribute to the revitalization of our downtown here in Williamstown that's kind of just now waking up after many years of nothing and trying to shift people's ideas about where to go, where to spend their money. Where to spend their time.

And it only seemed like a natural sort of step over, like, who is our workforce and where do they come from and what are their needs and what are their limitations and how many of them are there, you know, and so there are so many people that are so capable. And, you know, a big part of having people work here is that I have to be flexible to make accommodations or modifications.

And it's really about paying patience.

You know, people can do so much more than we give them time to accomplish because we're like, oh, well, you just kind of need to have it done quickly, quickly, you know, and that's my idea of getting the job done. But for me, and my mom is great at reminding me, let's slow down, give them an opportunity.

You don't have to control things, you know, so it's wonderful. She is that type of personality who says we don't have to have it done a certain way. We're going to let this person do the best that they can do.

And so I appreciate that about her so much.

And anyway, her and I both realized after some time and overcoming some, some things that we were very much meant to do our visions together, that the Dream and the Kentucky Icebox were supposed to work cooperatively for everyone's betterment. And it was cool because once she had this physical location, you know, ice cream shop is hosting Dream Grant county.

So then she became eligible for the grants and things like that. And indeed, you know, she's been diligent at applying for things. And so we were able to purchase a van.

Why don't you tell them about that grandmother.

Lead in there. She got you.

She's ready.

We should hire her to help us transition.

So one of the big issues for our folks that want to work is transportation. A lot of them, you know, maybe live far out or their, their families may not be able to help them with their schedules or, or whatever.

So I felt like if, if we had some transportation where we could pick them up or take them home, that that could solve, you know, a lot of that. So there. So I applied for the Interact for Health grant is like the rural change makers.

And so in this, from my understanding, this is a pretty easy grant to apply for compared to others.

And if that was easy, I, you know, I don't know, just a lot of background information that we had to put into it and, you know, a lot of things we had to look up and things, certain things we had to project and, you know, figure out. But, but anyway, so part of the Grant was to purchase the van.

And then the other part of the grant is to help, like, with marketing, social media, and all of that. And so we got that. It's just amazing. I'm loving it.

I have a couple of people that I, you know, pick up on a regular basis, and even a couple of our volunteers that I use the van to go and pick them up because they wouldn't have a way to get here if we didn't. So I just, you know, I feel like it's. It's been a real blessing. Also. I'm traveling advertisement because I've got it written on the side.

And so I'm driving down the road. I'm like, I'm driving the dream, you know.

But I love that, again, initiative to recognize that for anybody to.

To help out and work, they needed to get here and to be diligent enough to go through all the trials that filling out that grant information would need. And you followed through. So congratulations on that.

Thank you.

I think that's awesome.

Considering this is such a rural community, outside transportation, we don't necessarily think about that in larger cities because, you know, there's public transit and things like that. But for those around here, unless you live downtown, getting somewhere can be very difficult without steady transportation.

Absolutely.

So we've mentioned Dream Grant County a few different times, but I don't think we've defined it yet. So what does DREAM stand for?

Okay, so DREAM stands for differences Reframed, Empowered, accepted, and mobilized. And I'm not exactly sure how I came up with that. It was probably one of the things I was thinking about in the middle of the night sometime.

I don't know.

All great inspiration comes when you're supposed.

To be sleeping, but I felt like. So differences reframed.

I felt like we needed to think differently about our folks with special needs because you can, you know, look at someone or prejudge someone and think they can't do much. They don't have, you know, much potential. They're, you know, whatever. But if you step back, reframe that and.

And zero in on the parts that are just their specialty, you know, their thing, it makes a big difference. So we're reframing, we're empowering by giving them opportunities to show off what they can do and to be a part of the community and to.

To see a bigger picture for themselves. Accepted. The A is for accepted.

And so not only am I talking about us accepting them, but about them accepting themselves, accepting where they are in their lives, deciding, is this where I Want to stay? Do I want to do something different? Do I want to set goals for myself? And then the last one, the M is for mobilized.

And that is we got a van, we're mobilized.

We can, you know, work in here, we can do things, we can do mobile events, we can be out in the community, we can be in our new building that we will build one day, you know, but we're not stuck. And so that's what. What DREAM stands for.

I love it.

Yeah, that's fantastic.

So like I said, we're at the Kentucky Y' All Icebox and you kind of touched on it before. But, but who works here and like, what roles do they have and things like that?

And what kind of like you've already mentioned, like getting them to work and things like that. But what kind of support are they getting here to get started?

So we don't have a lot of employees. But, but.

And we have them ranging from needing hand over hand instruction with everything to being independent and can scoop ice cream and run the register, you know, and so our folks that need that hand over hand instruction, generally I have them here on Mondays is where the only thing that's open on Main street on Mondays or at least in the latter part of the day. And so by us having, we have less customers on that day, then we can give more individual attention.

I have a volunteer who faithfully comes in on Monday to help with all of those things. And we're. And those are things we're learning. We sometimes we make things.

Like yesterday we made those bags of popcorn over there and we put little pieces of chocolate and pretzels and, you know, things like that in it. But it was, it was a thing. It was a big process. You know, assembly line kind of sounds.

Like the snack I need after this podcast.

Yes, I'm waiting for my scoop of ice cream. I checked out the flavors before we started.

I scoped it out.

It's everything I can do to not eat ice cream every day of my life.

It's so hard. So anyway, those folks, which it's a constant learning for us, you know, what they can do and what.

And then, you know, trying to scope some things out that would be good for them. I have one young man, if you look at him, you would think.

Would.

Be capable of doing a lot of different things. He. A lot of difficulty with most things. If I give him the artistic kind of arts and crafts things to do, he. He flourishes.

And so that's kind of, you know, where I've been focusing with Him. And then we have our.

Our higher functioning folks that, you know, you can pretty much, you know, walk in the other room and let them take care of things. But if something a little bit different happens, a little bit of different in the schedule or something, just they didn't expect.

They really need our support. So it's, you know, it's kind of a wide range.

So as far as the employees that we have, it's me and Rochelle and I guess just one other young lady who doesn't have disabilities, which she. One of her family members has significant disabilities, and so she's very sensitive, you know, about everything. And that's all.

I think that's about it. Yes.

Yeah, it's nice to have a small, you know, group. But I think that the main thing that we hope for in moving forward is more of those volunteers or more support.

There's lots of different ways to support us, But I noticed that when we put the signs up, mom put a couple around that say, you know, things like growing skills, we're building a dream. Thank you for your understanding and the support of our team.

When people read things like that, they kind of start to understand that we have a different model here, you know.

Oh, okay.

It's not just an ice cream shop, but you guys are doing other things too. And that's when I really see the generosity and people just open their hearts just to, you know, there's so much.

And nearly everybody is touched by this vision, by our mission to provide employment to citizens with disabilities and meaningful, happy employment, because nearly every family is impacted, you know, by. In some way or another. Everybody knows somebody with disabilities. We all love someone who has a varying ability level.

We all have a very varying ability levels.

But anyway, I think that when we have a lot of arc tourism here at the shop, and so sometimes we have a line of people out the door and, you know, they.

They might get a little huffy and it might be a little hot, and they're kind of waiting, and then they start to understand what we're doing here and the patience and the love, you know, and not everybody is affected or does that resonate, and that's okay, too. And so we're all just kind of trying our patience and pushing it and growing it, and so that's okay, too.

Well, I think that's an opportunity for those individuals who don't have that everyday experience to truly understand a little bit better. Especially they can see some of the difficulties that your employees face. And. Yeah, but I also wanted.

Before we moved on, I wanted you or wanted us to discuss kind of the layout of your shop because it's not just a storefront. Grab a scoop of ice cream. You guys have really developed the decor and the other options and items to purchase.

Can you guys talk about that a little bit?

Oh, yeah.

Give that a visual idea for our, you know, our listeners.

Good idea.

That one to Rochelle, because that's her. Yeah, it is.

Yes.

Yes.

It's a great little. I've, you know, it's hard to, you know, really get that across, but I think it's a great little story, and I'm.

Thank you so much. I'm inspired by anything old and beautiful. And there's so much strength that.

That comes from the stories of the people who came before us, our family members, our ancestors, the people who built the town, the people who stood for things that were unpopular. And it turns out we're. We're some of them. It's wonderful. But the shop, when you walk in, it feels like stepping back in time.

And I make sure that everybody has an experience when they walk through the door. So, you know, you walk in and you're blasted with the fan, which feels great. But then you smell all the yummy smells. You.

You hear the record player playing the old. Old vinyls from the 40s. And I've got beautiful plants and antiques all, you know, intermittently woven together throughout the store.

And most things have a story. Most things have a story. It's some part of our Grant county history or just history as human beings.

From our own houses.

From our own houses. A lot of the things that are in my shop come from either my great aunt who was married to the mayor, my great uncle in the 60s.

His name was J.B. miller, and he was the town hero. He had the streets paved and cheap electricity brought to Williamstown, had the lake built and our i75 ramp, you know, put on so.

So that Williamstown didn't dry up and shrivel away into nothing. So I've got his fishing rod and his, you know, apothecary jars and his scale from weighing medicine at the old drugstore.

So some little nods to him and that side of the family. But there's a lot of stu that I don't know exactly where it came from besides the house that I purchased a couple years ago.

And when I bought my home from the precious elderly lady who lived there at the time, she was quite a collector, much like myself, and had a very full life. And so we, you know, kind of salute. Salute her and all the strong people who Made this community what it is.

And so when you come in, everything in the shop is Kentucky made. Everything. There's lots of candies and other confections.

We have little caramels that have been made by the same family for 135 years in Lawrenceburg. So I love the idea of traditionally made candies and vintage delights and edible souvenirs, I like to call them.

That's a great example. When you look around, it's stuff from Kentucky, so it's pretty exciting.

Including the ice cream. So I like to tell people you're not eating corporate ice cream. This is Kentucky made ice cream. So that's why it tastes so good, you know.

So, yeah, this. This is a special place I wanted to drive home to people we've talked about the source, Bill, where does our workforce come from?

You know, where does our food come from? That's a daily question. And us being mindful of that is really important.

I thought, you know, if it's not made in Kentucky, we probably don't need it.

So let's kind of circle back just a minute.

We talked about, like, Dream Grant county and how this location has helped you get, you know, grants and, you know, opens up opportunities for more funding and things like that. What is the vision? Because you've mentioned also, you know, eventually having another location. What would be. What would take place at that location?

What is the vision for that location?

This is my favorite topic. Yes, we love this.

Lead right into Mona.

There we go. So what I envision is a big employment complex and where I'm able to employ people with a varying range of abilities.

I want it to be close to the interstate, close to the ark. I don't want it to be where you drive 10 miles down some windy, curvy road and people might come because they feel sorry for you.

I want it to be out there and easily accessible. I want a fabulous building. I did some polling way back when I first got the dream to find out what we needed in Grant County. What.

What would people like to see here? Overwhelmingly, people said they wanted more forms of recreation in GR County.

And then secondary was, you know, they were really interested in farmers market kinds of things or locally made, you know, foods, you know, kind of like. Like we're talking about here. So that began the. The picture, you know, of. Of what I wanted decided on. We would love to have it.

A fabulous indoor mini golf attraction. Beautifully done, you know, not cheaply done or anything, but with great backgrounds and beautiful sets. Yes. All of that.

Behind that, I want to have an art studio. And that would be for those folks who maybe are not all that comfortable interacting with customers, but still want that dignity of labor.

They want that opportunity to create things, to draw a paycheck, to be integrated, you know, into society.

So they could color things, paint things, package things, frame them, make them, and then sell them over here in our little country store, which would be very similar to this with locally made crafts and then locally, you know, made foods and jams and jellies and, you know, know those kinds of things. Behind that, I want to have a commercial bakery where we make all kinds of goodies.

And then right in between the mini golf and the country store, like to have a snack bar area where we have the wonderful ice cream and the sweet treats.

And then all along the front of this building would be a community room with retractable walls where we could have contests and tournaments and birthday parties and, or maybe rent out the whole thing, the whole venue, which I believe help with the sustainability of the whole whole thing.

I'd love to have a grandparently layer of support from our veterans and our senior citizens for those folks who want to come there and want to be a part of things. But they would really benefit maybe from someone shadowing them or just, you know, checking in with them.

I'd love, I'd love to, for it to be a place where people just came in every day and got their coffee or their ice cream or whatever and just kind of, you know, checked on people and see how we're doing.

I like, I'd like to develop that healing kind of atmosphere that, you know, we're coming here, we all have needs, we all have differences, you know, and we're, we're coming here to just kind of be a whole together to help each other. I love the, the indoor mini golf. I chose that because it wouldn't be a weather related, you know, kind of recreational thing.

It's something we could do all the time. It would be, I would say, pretty simple jobs, you know, cleaning, organizing, customer service, you know, those kinds of things.

So anyway, I'm describing something beautiful and wonderful and I, I, I believe in it.

I mean, I think we could, I mean, if like I said that one person that could clap and wave, I could just see them sitting at the doorway of the mini golf and they, people are getting ready to pay and they hit a button, you know, and it says, shazam, you just won a free game, you know, or whatever, you know, I mean, why not? And so anyway, that's, that's What I'm.

Looking at, what I think is exciting, is the way that she's envisioned everyone working together. And if you listen to this dream, it's going to require people of all ability levels to make this happen.

So that's going to generate a lot of jobs in Grant county, where we're a small community that doesn't have a lot of job opportunities for anyone.

Yeah, it's an exciting idea to think about having something that's accessible, you know, where many people have accessibility issues and it's visible, you know, and anyway, it's entirely possible. So pretty much every dollar that's spent here at the ice cream shop, you know, goes to supporting her continued operation.

But then, you know, our tip jar, all of that goes towards either paying our employees or just going towards the building, the eventual building of this, of this complex. And on the note of fundraising, one of the most exciting things that we have done is my mother and I have always loved the art of storytelling.

And seeing as how it's the oldest art form in the world, that people were telling stories around campfires and, and that's happening way before anything else.

We.

Realize what a beautiful art form and a celebration of human history that it is. Her and I often go to big storytelling festivals. There's one that's in Cave Run Lake every year in Morehead, Kentucky. And it's just so inspiring.

And so what we're hoping is that as the town grows and as we bring more people to this area for all different reasons, that we can gain some momentum and some energy around this storytelling festival. It features several different nationally known storytellers, travel around doing this for a living.

And you think, oh, there's no way I can just sit here captive in this chair for an hour and listen to this person talk. And then you're captivated and, you know, mesmerized and stuck and like, wow, this is great. Don't we have more hours to listen?

So there are multiple people, three speakers this year, but we've also partnered with Stage Right Theater, and we are, are so excited about that partnership, about bringing up young people in the arts and knowing about storytelling and not having misconceptions about storytelling like that. It's a book reading or some other strange, you know, not as exciting thing.

So we're hoping that every year that our festival grows and that we continue to save money for, for this Amazing building that we're wanting to construct.

So with you bringing that up because that was going to be my next point. So thank you. How can people learn more about that or get tickets for it or how does, how does that all work?

So our on our website which is dreamgrant co.org it will have all the information about out the storytelling festival. It'll have a link to our like eventbrite link where you can purchase tickets. There's.

So that website tells you all about Dream and what we're doing and a lot of details about the festival. It talks about each of the speakers that are going to be there and it's just anyway you'll. You get a lot of information from.

There and we'll definitely include that link in the. In the perfect pod notes.

Another way that people can buy tickets is just by walking into the shop and we're selling them physical tickets right here.

Yeah, yeah. And another thing I want to say about that, you know I, I remember going through this last year is like nobody bought tickets in advance.

Maybe one or two and that was it.

And then we sold you know, a lot more tickets the day of the event and I was a little aggravated and I thought I'm kind of like that I don't want to buy things in advance because I'm like I don't know what's going to happen or you know, I don't want to make a commitment.

But we really do need people to make a commitment and consider that even if you can't come, if it ends up you can't come, that it's okay that you made that donation. You know, it's not a big price. It's $20 for all day. It's $12 for individual sessions.

So it's, there's a, the morning session, the afternoon session and then the grand finale in the evening. Then that's when stage right theater will be performing as. And so, you know, $12 for individual, 20 for all day.

We it would really help us if people would go ahead and purchase tickets in advance. It'll help us with the other things that we need to do, you know, to get ready and just for planning purposes and everything.

So also I should mention we haven't said where it's at this this year we're doing it at the performing arts center at the Williamstown Independent School. And that is such a nice, nice facility that they built just a couple years ago.

But that kind of brings us back to the idea of, you know, bringing it in for the kids.

You know, when we go to these festivals, we see plenty of people in their 60s and 70s and 80s, and we see some of the young kids, but we really are not seeing the people in their 20s and 30s and 40s or 50s, you know, so there's a big gap. And what we tell people is that if you can't come, send a young person, you know, buy a ticket for them.

We're also fine with the donation, but we really want our younger generations to kind of understand the excitement of this. It's acting, it's speaking, you know, it's all. All of the things that will serve them, you know, later in life, whether or not they're.

They're into the arts. But it's so enriching, and it's such a wholesome family event. It's just so wonderful.

So we have, I think, I believe, two out of our three national tellers plays music. I know one of them whistles. One of the men was born with a physical disability himself, and then he had a real severe accident.

So he has a lot of challenges there physically. One of the ladies has been helping us with all the organization and doing things, and she just has such a heart for what we're doing. And so it's.

This is going to be fabulous. It's going to be right here in Grant County.

This is something that you would pay a lot of money to go to someplace else, you know, into this quality of storytelling. And we. Don't.

We even kind of hesitate using the term storytelling because as Rochelle said, the misconceptions that people have, okay, this is a thing for kids, you know, whatever, hair. Because it is. It is a story art. These are story artists. You know, this is something that is. It will transform you from this place to another place.

They can. I mean, it's unbelievable. The rich language and the. As she was saying, the. The acting, the performing, the.

Those pauses that just get, you know, those gut punches, those. You know, it is just amazing.

And we need that our young folks in particular don't have that I can look you in the eye and talk to you kind of skill anymore, or listen to you. You know, they might look you in the eye, but they're everywhere else with the headphones on and then whatever, you know, and so, uh, that we.

We've about lost it, and we need to really work on getting that back because it. It makes a huge difference in relationships and job skills and job interviews.

I mean, the people that we've interviewed sometimes for jobs here was like, oh, my gosh, they won't look at you. They're stuttering it, you know, anyway, just to be able to build some confidence and to enjoy that rich part of our culture.

And it's going to be right here, and we can't miss it. You can't miss it. You got to be here.

I mean, for me, I'm in that 50 ish category. We'll leave it there. I mean, I didn't really understand what the. The. The performances and all were going to be.

Now I have, like, this visual, and it sounds really interesting.

It is.

It's not something that I would normally have attended. So we'll have to.

Yes, we'll have to see.

But I wanted to ask because you mentioned, like, even if you. Somebody bought a ticket and couldn't come, it's a good donation. Is there another way that people can donate?

Yes. So if you go on the website, we've got, like, the QR code and that all hooks up with the bank account, you know, the whole thing that way.

We have, have. We have people who come in here and bring his checks or bring us $100 bills or bring his, you know, $20 bills. You know, I have learned, and this.

Probably everybody should tell me, don't say this if you're, you know, but I have learned that it's really not about money or finances or resources. You know, it's about just bringing this dream. Okay, I get teary. Sorry.

It's about bringing this dream before God and say you do with it what you will, and because I'm sure his plan's got to be better than mine. I've got a great plan. Just imagine what his plan is.

I mean, your plan. I visualized it all. I visualized it all, every part of it. So, I mean, you're doing an excellent job. Both of you are. So what is one thing?

One thing, like, because my notes say, like, what is your. What is your, you know, what do you see Initiatives in the future?

I would just like to know, like, what is one wish you have for maybe, like, from this point to maybe the end of the year, like, what is one thing that you wish could. Could happen or take place?

A land donation. Close to the ark. One acre is all it takes. No, I won't speak for you, but I would just say the amount of support.

Like, we're often looking for people to help us work. If my mom is not running the shop, it is me running the shop. And I have three small kids. And this shop was totally like baby number four.

So, you know, there is just a lot. There's a lot to do, and if it's not us doing it, it doesn't get done, you know, and lots of people say, oh, well, I'm really good at this.

Maybe I could help you with your. That. And unfortunately, we have found that if we don't pay people, they don't come, they don't show up.

There are a couple very special volunteers that she mentioned, but these are people we've known way before, and there's sort of this, you know, know, friendship level. You know, I've been looking for a Saturday manager for this place for months, and. And so. But I've realized, like she said, it's.

It just has to be the right fit. It's got to be the right personality. We want people here who understand the joy of what we're doing and the dignity of labor and.

But somebody who just has not. Not just tolerance for what we're doing, but a passion for it. And that's been very, very difficult to find.

So that is the main thing is I just pray, like, lord, send us some help.

But, you know, right now, we are so blessed with our employees and some of our citizens who work with us that are able to do everything from scooping to the register. You know, I just think, where would we be?

Like, we.

We truly have created this very, you know, symbiotic sort of, you know, relationship. And I feel so special to. To have built that trust and that respect.

So, anyway, that is my personal thing is if somebody feels drawn to our cause, like, please come talk to me. You know, there's lots of things to be done and little things that I could delegate, like, hey, could you make a social media post for me?

You know, I don't have time to do it. I hardly have time to shower. So it's like, yes. Just getting that. Those little bits of commitment.

And I think that is the thing is getting people to make commitments, it can be like pulling teeth. But when you plead and you say, revitalize this downtown or die, you know, we have very few choices. We either go up or we're stagnant.

Let's just go up, you know, So I think that people will come around to understanding. There's plenty people who are understanding that and. And supporting that. So I think just awareness, like, understanding.

There's so much more to be done.

Yes.

I mean, just making that kind of information known makes a big difference, right?

Absolutely.

Not just the travelers that come in for their ice cream, but like you said, the community.

Yeah.

Your locals.

And I was gonna I remember getting a local discount. We'll have to talk about.

Yes, that's right. And I do. And that is part of. Glad you brought that up because I like to kind of give that incentive to people. Like, please.

I want them to feel appreciated. And back there behind the register, I have our appreciation board. And that really touches people's heart.

I've got military Monday, Teacher Tuesday, well care Wednesday, Grant County Local Thursday, and first responder Friday. And if anybody ever mentions, I don't care what day it is, I'm like, yes, Military, yes, well care people, school workers. Oh, my gosh. Thank you.

So anyway, we kind of want them to understand that we don't have a business without the local support. And it's great to have the tourists. It's wonderful. But we cannot do this without locals.

That's awesome.

Yeah. So I wanted to answer that question too, is what she's saying about needing people. And.

And I think for myself, for my nonprofit, between now and the end of the year, I really need to establish a board. We have, like, the basics that we need so that we're legal and we, you know, and all of that, which is basically my sister, my husband and I. So.

So anyway. But I really need to establish a working board.

People who are willing to, you know, meet at least once a month, maybe a couple times a month, certain, you know, times of the year, and, you know, kind of help problem solve and things that I could delegate to them and things, you know, where we can report back and. And because right now it's pretty much me, me and me, you know, on all of that.

And, you know, I'll write a list of to do things with 35 things on it, and by the time I go down them and cross them off and whatever, and then I've written all my notes beside them, I've got 35 more things, you know, that I, you know, there's. Yeah, there's never just part A to something.

It's part A, part B, part C, and, you know, follow up, you know, and so to have someone willing to commit to helping us with all those behind the scene things would be amazing. I've talked to a couple of people who are kind of excited about helping in that way, but realistically, I need more. So. Yeah.

And that's one of the things we hope to accomplish by highlighting your purpose. Because, you know, this is such a meaningful, you know, dream dream that you have, being able to find those who would be committed.

You know, there's others that this is such an impact, you Know, it's such an impact part of their lives. Whether, you know, like you said, everybody knows somebody.

And so finding that, you know, I think like you said, Rochelle, the finding that perfect fit. And, you know, the more.

The more the community knows and the more we talk about it, the more your ears, you're going to reach and that one ear is going to prick and go, that's exactly right. This sounds like me.

This.

And, you know, and your spiritual connection, you know, there's gonna be. Somebody's gonna hear that. Right. And hear that call. And that's. That's.

I truly thank you for helping us do that. Yes, we are excited.

And it's. Yeah.

I mean, that.

That was the whole reason behind creating this podcast in the first place, was to find those little nuggets within Grant county and share the them with potentially the world, but share them with. With anybody who's willing to listen and.

Give it a shot.

So I remember the very first community meeting that I had to just kind of gauge interest and see what was going on. And I made a big poster that said, grant county people love their citizens with special needs. And, you know, know, nobody argued with me about that.

And, you know, maybe people do things a different way than we would do, but I know Grant county people are good people. They're loving and they want to help. It's a matter of people having very specific instruction on how they can help.

A lot of it, because a lot of us are willing. But then we're like, yeah, I don't know what to do.

Well, I was going to say maybe we. We're not attuned to the needs of that community. Right. And so sometimes, well, being outsiders. Right.

Think that maybe, you know, this might help, but if we don't have that true understanding of that community's needs, we may not be helping as much. Right. As we would like. And so I think that's a really being involved and truly understanding that community is. Is key.

And I think you guys have kind of tuned into the.

That. Yes, we've. We had a young lady in here last week, and she loves to sing.

And so whenever anybody comes in, of course she brings a fan club with her when she comes. They all want to see her working and everything, but when she comes and she sees somebody that. That she knows is. And she'll take that and sing. Sing.

And so she just brings this happiness. Like, I didn't expect this.

You know, I mean, I. I knew this was going to be fun, but there was just, you know, like, another level of Happiness to it. But so one gentleman came in who.

He.

Who they used to go to church with. And he had. And she knew that, you know, that he sings. And she, you know, grabbed sing.

And so after talking a little bit, he started singing Amazing Grace. This whole place broke out in Amazing Grace.

Everybody singing and the little girl with her little screechy voice, and they're, you know, but she knew the words, you know, and everybody. And after this was over, almost everybody said, oh, I wish I would have recorded that. But I be. I believe that's probably one of those things.

Things that you would never be able to capture the essence of that moment. And that's what I love about here. At any time, prayer can break out.

And I've seen it over and over and over again, or singing or dancing or just rejoicing. And we. We don't see much negative. We don't see much downside. People are happy when they're coming to get ice cream.

That's true.

It's hard not to be happy when you're getting ice cream.

I know. It makes me happy.

Yeah. Unless you're dropping it. And I'm sure we can fix that.

Right?

But overall, that's. I always say there's never coincidence that walks through that door.

And the people that come in here are coming either to be a blessing to us for them to be a blessing to them, or for us to bless each other, which mostly is how that works. And it's. This is a happy, happy, healing place right here. And that's what I hope for my whole dream.

So.

Well, thank you both. Mona and Rochelle, thank you so much. We have learned, like, I mean, I've come in here for ice cream.

I've enjoyed the environment, but I've learned so much more, and I understand and appreciate it so much. So just thank you very much again for letting us come in here, sit down and enjoy and listen to the stories, what your future plans are, and.

Just having a conversation about, you know, everything about this is fantastic.

It's been a pleasure to share.

It has.

Nice to share the dream.

Thank you for being interested. You know, I spew my dream out.

Onto many people, and now it's in a more organized structure, easily to distribute to the public. It will live on forever.

That's right. I'm never 100% sure if people want to hear the story or not, but I do. You guys wanted to hear it better.

And hopefully our listeners will, too. I think that's a positive.

But thank you all very much.

Thanks.

Thank you all thank you.