Lori George with DIGS

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good Fabulous Friday. It’s another fabulous Friday and we’ve got some nice cool weather out there. The fall is definitely here. We normally have three fabulous guests on Charitable Georgia, but this morning we have one fabulous guest. We had a couple that was coming and had a family emergency, so we’ll get them back on. But this is if your first time listening to Charitable Georgia. This is all about positive things happening in the community. And this morning we have a fabulous guest all the way from Rome, Georgia. Lori George from DIGS. Thanks for being here this morning.

Lori George: [00:01:13] Well, thank you for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:14] So as I said, you are from Rome. You made the a nice trip down here. And you and I actually met a couple of years ago. You were working for the Rome Braves. So if you don’t mind, share a little bit about your background, and then we’ll get into DIGS and what you guys do.

Lori George: [00:01:27] Okay, so I worked for the Rome Braves, which is the Atlanta Braves, one of their minor league teams. And we have something called a miracle field, which is a latex free rubber field where walkers and wheelchairs can go over the field. And we would host six spring games, six fall games for special needs adults and kids. If our players and coaches were playing at home, then we would actually send them out to be buddies and help them get around the bases and things of that nature. So I just kind of, you know, I fell in love with the special needs population at that point. And I went, you know, I think maybe I was in the wrong career. And I thought maybe I should go back to school and be a special needs teacher. But then during Covid, they had a mass layoff and my position was cut. And that’s how I found digs.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:14] Yeah. So we kind of missed a lot of things up for a lot of people. So it’s too bad Jonathan Alexis couldn’t be here there with Guided Light Services because they actually work with special needs folks. That’s why I wanted you guys to meet together. But I’ll make that connection for you. So you talked about the Rome Braves. I’m sure that was exciting. Working for a minor league system for a major league team. Talk a little bit more about that. What? I mean, you just a little bit. You shared a little bit what you did, but what was kind of a day like for you there at the Rome Braves?

Lori George: [00:02:41] Oh, no. Day was the same. It was crazy. I did special events and so I did a lot of, like, wedding rehearsals. Like, people would be really big baseball fans and want to come in and do, like, wedding rehearsals and first birthday parties. But then I was also in charge of like, community relations. So we would go to the soup kitchen and go volunteer. And then I did ticket donations. And then, like during games, I was on field helping with national anthem and things. So I kind of wore a lot of different hats. That’s awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:13] Well, you actually know a good friend of mine because Chad Blake, Angel auctions comes up there and does the auctions up there all the time. So I’m sure he probably got you’re the one that probably got connected to him of that. So. So who was probably the most exciting brave that came through Rome that might be in the major leagues right now?

Lori George: [00:03:32] Oh, um. Ozzie.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:37] Ozzie. Albies. Yeah. What year was that? Do you remember?

Lori George: [00:03:41] Oh, 20, 1516, somewhere around there.

Brian Pruett: [00:03:45] All right. I have a friend who actually owns a T-shirt company, and they did some t shirts for his nonprofit as well. So it sounds like he’s a pretty nice guy, so. Yes. So it’s kind of cool. I’m guessing that you probably seen a lot of guys come through that are playing in the major leagues right now, so I’m sure pretty exciting. You can say I knew him when. Yes. So all right, so tell me a little bit of obviously getting involved. And you said you fell in love with the special needs, but why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Lori George: [00:04:13] I feel like several of them don’t have good advocates. And so, you know, we want we want them to know that they have friends, that they are capable and that, you know, we want them to be friends and do anything that they want to do, that they’re just as capable as everybody else.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:32] So tell us a little more about you mentioned that it’s kind of a rubberized thing that you put over the field. Yes, I know the Horizon League, which is down in Acworth, they have actually built a special field like that for the for the kids. But tell us a little bit more about a day, what you guys would do with those special needs athletes and bring them on. What’s what’s that look like?

Lori George: [00:04:55] Well, I always tried to make it special. We would have, like, a red carpet. And like I said, if the Rome Braves players were at home or the coaches, we would go, we would bring them out there and they would actually buddy up and play. You know, sometimes it was actually the Rome Braves players and coaches against the special needs, but oh that’s cool. Yeah. We had one coach that just absolutely fell in love with one little boy, and he gave the mom his number. And I mean, it was so precious because the little boy would always say, I’m Rocket Wheeler and they would FaceTime. And I mean, even now they still face time. And that’s like five years. Well, that’s awesome down the road. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:05:35] So was it pretty much just baseball or did you do other sports?

Lori George: [00:05:38] So the Rome rec department does other challenger sports. But when I was with the Rome Braves, yeah, it was just baseball. They have basketball and bowling and different things like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:05:48] Awesome. So how often are you guys, do they do that? Do they still continue doing that and how often do they do that?

Lori George: [00:05:55] Yes, they do six games in the spring and six in the fall.

Brian Pruett: [00:05:58] Okay. Awesome. And then how can people find out about those games? I’m sure we’ll get into digs just a second, but I’m sure maybe the website there and also the Rome Braves, can they find that out through their website as well?

Lori George: [00:06:08] It would be through Parks and Rec or Parks and Recreation.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:10] Okay. All right, all right. Well, you said this kind of led to you with for for dig. So share a little bit. First of all, what does dig stand for.

Lori George: [00:06:18] It’s developing independence growth and security okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:22] Awesome. So what all do you guys do through digs.

Lori George: [00:06:25] So the main thing is we have housing for special needs adults. We have a men’s home that we actually got paid off in December of last year and a women’s home. So those houses for developmentally challenged adults and then a caretaker in each home. So that is our biggest project. And then we have leisure activities. We have a choir that goes out to different churches and different events. They actually sang the national anthem at one of the Rome Braves games last year, a camera club. A lot of our adults are very artistic and so we have like garden art. They’ll make stepping stones and things like that that will sell at arts and crafts shows.

Brian Pruett: [00:07:01] And I’m sure that these activities, they’re lifelong memories for these folks. I think this is one, I guess, part of society that kind of gets looked down on as well, but also kind of forgotten about. It’s just awesome to hear about, you know, the artistic points, the things they do. I remember when we were doing I had a magazine that we did for a while called Northwest Georgia Rising Stars, and we covered the schools in Bartow and Gordon counties, and we actually did a couple of stories on some special needs students that were amazing in the community, and that made it worth doing, you know, because that’s long life memories for those kids. Right. Um, share. Can you share? Is there a specific story? I mean, you don’t have to share names, but can you share a specific story of one possible testimony or individual that was just kind of stands out through the Diggs program?

Lori George: [00:07:55] Well, this wouldn’t be about one particular person, but one of the reasons that they started Diggs that kind of stood out to me was one of the founding members was a special needs teacher who also had a special needs son. And she realized when they got out of school that they didn’t really have, like, all of their friends, you know, they didn’t really have a way to communicate. And what she found so sad was on their birthday that they didn’t have anybody to celebrate with. And so Diggs has kind of given them a network. And so we’re real big on celebrating birthdays together that, you know, one of the last birthday parties I went to for one of the adults, there was like 50 people there. Wow. Yeah. And you know, yeah, a lot of that was family. But it was a lot of their, their friends. Right. And that’s important.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:37] Yeah. I mean and it makes them feel good. Yes. So. What kind of things. Well, you said you fell in love with the special needs. So let me just ask you why why you share a little bit, why it’s part of the community to become an advocate for them. But what made you fall in love with that?

Lori George: [00:08:57] Just to see how important the baseball was to them. But just that, you know, they were some of the happiest people and the, you know, they they just had such a good attitude a lot of times, you know, like, I would work until 1:00 on a Friday night and the miracle filled games are always on Saturdays. And, you know, I’d have to get there at like 8:00 to get everything set up. And I was tired and cranky, and then they’d get there and they would just, you know, put a smile on my face. And I always said that was a lot of the times. What got me through baseball season was those Saturday mornings.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:29] And it’s I think it’s cool what you said that because the folks that I’ve been around, they’re always happy. Yes. You know, it’s unlike, you know, folks like even myself who gets down and stuff like that. And I don’t want to be around somebody, but they’re always genuine and happy. Yes. Um, what do you guys just. Is it strictly just adults, or do you guys do anything with kids as well?

Lori George: [00:09:52] So it’s pretty much a. 18 and up. We do make exceptions. We have one little boy that’s 12 or 13 that participates in choir, but it is mostly 18 and.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:02] Up and I’m sure there are people. There’s a broad spectrum of special needs. Can you share a little bit about maybe the spectrum from your knowledge of what kind of falls under that category?

Lori George: [00:10:15] Yeah. So it is a lot of autistic. We have some with down syndrome. But autistic I would say was 75% of who we cater to. We have one group that meets three Mondays a month called skills for life. And that is it’s teaching them skills because that’s kind of what they struggle with is keeping connections and just basic life skills. One of their favorite activities that we did a couple of weeks ago is we actually take them. We break the group up and we go out to eat, and we practice ordering food, and we practice getting change back so they’re not taking advantage of. But like I said, we do have down syndrome and a few other things in our program. And that’s.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:58] Sad. You had to mention being taken advantage of, but unfortunately that’s out there is what, for those listening who may not know what autism is, can you share a little bit about what what it is.

Lori George: [00:11:11] Yeah. So it’s basically where you are, your skills, your communication skills and your social skills are not really, you know, on par with everyone else. A lot of times they’re very they have sensory issues. A lot of times they’re very sensitive to light and sound and things like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:33] Yeah, I’ve noticed we’ve got a family that comes to our church, and their oldest son has to wear headphones during the service. I’m guessing because it’s loud.

Lori George: [00:11:43] Probably.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:44] Yeah, it’s but you know, it’s just like I said, those those folks, they’re just, like I said, so genuine, so happy. And, you know, I would like to spend most of the day around folks like that. You know, it makes.

Lori George: [00:11:58] For a good day.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:58] Yes. And it probably makes the day go by a little quicker, too, you know, and it’s one of those days that you don’t mind. It’s going by quick because you’re you’re feeling good and doing. I’m probably you probably go home every day. Well going home feeling good. I’m sure you have bad days, but I’m sure you get to go home and feeling good about what you’re doing.

Lori George: [00:12:15] Oh, definitely.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:16] Definitely. Do you guys have any events or anything coming up you want to share?

Lori George: [00:12:20] We do have a golf tournament. We partnered up with Rome Braves and the Floyd County Police Department, and so they always do a golf tournament and then pick a beneficiary. So Diggs is the beneficiary this year that’s on Friday, November the 3rd. And then we’ve got a few other small things coming up. One major project that we just finished up was we ran concessions for the Rome Braves, and we got 15% back for volunteering our services. And that was a real eye opener, because we had a lot of our adults come in that had never had jobs before. And, you know, we’d kind of start and put them making drinks, like getting the ice and putting the the coke in there. And then I realized quickly with some of them that that was boring them. And I said, hey, do you want to try to do the cash register? And by the end of the season, most of them could actually run a cash register. Oh, that’s cool themselves. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:10] And they’re definitely people. Person people. Yes. I’m sure interacting with folks was not a problem with them. No. All right. So Shirley, about the golf tournament, he says November 3rd. Where’s it going to be at?

Lori George: [00:13:22] It is at Stonebridge which is in Rome.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:24] Okay. Are there still openings for golfers, sponsors?

Lori George: [00:13:27] Yes, yes. And all that is going through the Floyd County Police Department.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:31] Do you know, what is it? Just they just Google Floyd County Police Department, I’m guessing, and find out information.

Lori George: [00:13:37] Yeah. The digs, our Facebook page and our Instagram have information on it as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:42] All right. Are you guys having chat out there. Are you going to be out there with an auction? Do you know.

Lori George: [00:13:46] I haven’t asked him.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:48] You might could you might want to ask him. I’m sure he’d probably do it. Chad, I just volunteered your services, buddy. All right, so let’s get into a little more about digs. You talked about you teaching them life skills and things of that nature. Do you guys partner with businesses in the community to do to do things like getting them jobs and stuff like that?

Lori George: [00:14:09] Um, well, sort of kinda. We’re actually in the process of trying to find a building to open up our own business so we can employ them. We’re wanting to do like a coffee shop and then a gift shop with some of our garden art and sell those items.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:25] Awesome. So are you guys currently looking for that building? Yes. You want something that’s already built? I’m assuming preferably. Yeah. All right. So when you if you get a chance before you go back to Rome today, you need to go around the corner up here to call Circle of Friends. It’s on the Chattahoochee Tech campus just around the corner. And it’s run by Circle of Friends, a special needs group. So you might maybe just talk about them and see how they can maybe give you some advice or something. So okay, I’ll tell you more when we get off the air about that. So so what kind of you said coffee shop? And say art.

Lori George: [00:14:54] Yes. Our garden art sells really well. And so it would be a coffee and a gift shop.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:01] So what is garden art? Just so, for those who might not know.

Lori George: [00:15:04] We do stepping stones. If you’ve ever seen the big welcome signs that people put by their front doors. We do those. They have birdhouses. I mean they they do in and everything. But we have a big warehouse and we store everything in there. And then the adults go on Wednesdays and they can make whatever they want to make. And then we have once a month where it’s kind of led and they all kind of do the same craft, but they are all very artistic. And then like I said, we we sell a lot of that. Or if they want to keep it, they can keep it.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:35] That’s awesome. Can people buy that online as well. Can they buy something like that online?

Lori George: [00:15:40] Not at the moment. That’s something we’d like to be able to do in the future.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:43] Okay. Well that’s really cool because, you know, I’ve got I’ve seen some art from people who are in the special needs spectrum. And yes, you are right, they are very talented and very artistic. So and they’re amazing products. I mean, I break things so I can’t make them. So it’s just kind of cool to see those things. Um, all right. So let’s do this. Share information how people can find you guys. And then then I got a couple other questions for you as well. So share how people can find digs and get a hold of you guys.

Lori George: [00:16:15] Okay so the website is digs rome.org. And then we’re on Facebook under Digs Inc and we’re on Instagram under Digs Inc as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:27] Okay. All right. So talk a little bit more how the community can get involved. I’m assuming that people not just from Rome can get involved and help you guys. How can people do that?

Lori George: [00:16:35] Oh, yeah. So one thing we’re always looking for is peer mentors for the skills for life group that I had mentioned, the way that the model was set up, because there’s actually skills for life groups all over the place, and it’s supposed to be a one on one model, like one autistic person, and then a normal adult that we have like half of the peer mentors. So that’s something that if somebody wants to get involved with special needs or maybe somebody that’s like in high school that might have an interest in pursuing something like that with their career, that they wouldn’t be super committed. But it’s three Mondays a month and they could come help. We have some retired art teachers that come and help with garden art on Wednesdays, and that’s something if people wanted to come in there and just be creative and kind of see what we’re doing, that could come in and help when we have bigger projects. If we volunteer at the Braves again next year, that was a huge commitment. It was 10 to 12 volunteers every game, so that’s a way to get involved. And we’re working on some bigger projects like A5K and different things like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:44] Okay. And hopefully you and I can do some stuff together. We’ve already talked and hopefully I can do some stuff for you guys as well. So you guys still need some buddies and stuff too. When you guys do your games up there at the stadium.

Lori George: [00:17:56] Yeah, they’re always looking for volunteers for that.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:59] So I’m just looking at the back of this brochure you give me, and it’s kind of cool because you mentioned your choir, you mentioned your your art, but I see you guys do a camera club and a dance club and all kinds of stuff. So that’s really cool. Do you have have people talked about what might be their favorite thing as far as all the clubs that you do, has anybody that you service or serve talked about what might be their favorite thing?

Lori George: [00:18:23] I would say choir and art. They like the dance club. It’s once a month and you know they enjoy it, but since it’s only once a month, they don’t really talk about it that much. Right. And then Camera Club, they enjoy several of them. You know, they have their phone out and it’s like a flip phone. And you wouldn’t think they’d take that good of a picture. And then they show it to you and you go, wow, that’s amazing. Like, you would think they had a professional camera to take it, but they just see things so differently. And so they’re able to get really cool pictures.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:52] You need photographers to volunteer for any of that.

Lori George: [00:18:56] Um, I mean, they could. Yeah. If they wanted to come out and.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:00] And say, I just volunteered you. We’ll talk later. An I’ll get to see you here in a little bit. But no, she’s an amazing photographer and she does some stuff up in the Rome area. So, um, I think you talk about choir being one of their favorites. I like singing myself, but I can just imagine it’s probably not a boring concert.

Lori George: [00:19:18] No, no.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:20] Can you share a little bit about maybe one of the kinds you say you guys just sung? Well, you said the national anthem or.

Lori George: [00:19:26] Yes. So they typically perform at churches and they did. They typically do the national anthem once a year at the Rome Braves game and then, like, they’ll sing the national anthem before the golf tournament. One concert that kind of stands out to me is we went to a church and one of our adults was having a really hard time, and before one of the other adults started singing, he stopped dead in his tracks and he said, I’m going to dedicate this song to my friend, put his arm around him and said, you know, everybody needs to pray for him. He’s having a hard time right now. And I mean the whole we all started crying. And he dedicated this Christian song to his friend because he recognized that his friend was having a hard time.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:08] That’s awesome. Do you guys just do the Rome area when you guys do concerts, or can you go to other areas to do concerts?

Lori George: [00:20:14] We’ve gone other areas, yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:16] How far would you go?

Lori George: [00:20:19] I want to say the furthest one they’ve done is like Bremen okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:23] All right. It’s a pretty.

Lori George: [00:20:23] Good distance from Rome. That’s, you know, 45 minutes to an hour.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:26] So if they, if somebody’s listening, maybe a church and wants to have you guys come, I’m guessing they would call Pat. Or would they call you either one? Okay. Um. Well. That’s awesome. There are a lot of good things going on with you guys, so. Well, how can businesses other than people just donating money, which I’m sure you guys take anyway? But another way for other than volunteering and financial are the way for businesses to get involved with you guys, and if so, how can they do that?

Lori George: [00:20:54] Yeah, so we’re always looking for ways to partner up with businesses. We did a spirit night with chick fil A and actually their marketing director came back and she said, hey, you know, your choir is actually singing at our church before, and I have an idea. I went, okay. And she said, can you get the choir to sing? And I went in the middle of chick fil A, but it worked, you know, and people were, as they were coming in, were listening to, I mean, stopped and listened to them. And so that was kind of cool, you know, just the different aspect of it wasn’t just a spirit night where we came in and we ate and we laughed and we got 15% back or whatever. So, you know, I’m working with a college in Rome right now trying to use their parking lot for a big event. And so, you know, it kind of started off with a conversation being like, well, we don’t give discounts. And then she realized what digs was. And then she said, well, maybe we can work something out to where if it’s sponsored by this college, then you don’t have to pay. So I mean just. Being creative, right? You know, coming up with different things. If it’s a restaurant where we can come in and and eat and maybe perform or, you know, different things like that, if they have an event space, if it’s something where we can host an event there, you know. Right.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:14] Okay. Is it can I ask what college you’re trying to talk to?

Lori George: [00:22:18] Georgia Highlands.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:19] Okay. I have a connection at shorter, if that would help, too. If you want to talk to anybody over there so I can make that connection for you as well. She’s a professor over there. So at least, you know, maybe we can get a foot in the door for you there as well. So, um. Awesome. So. All right, let me ask you this then. So we talk a lot about on the show, obviously community. We also talk about networking. Do you get out and do networking at all with your group. Because for you yourself, do you go to any networking groups?

Lori George: [00:22:45] Yes, we’re pretty involved with Barry and Shorter, but buried. In fact, last night their psych program did a social for adults and they got to dress up in Halloween costumes and go out there. Awesome. And they’ve been very involved about sending out volunteers and things like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:02] Do you have a testimony that you can share? I always like to get people to give positive testimonies about a networking. You know, something has worked for you just about networking, whether it would be with Diggs or even with you with the Rome Braves. You know, I always like to see I like to connect people with others, but I always like to see when there’s, you know. For instance, which I think I might have mentioned to you. You come down to the Cartersville Business Club on Wednesday mornings, and there’s a lot of happening going on there, and people can share stories about, well, I was looking for such and such and we made this connection. Do you have a story like that?

Lori George: [00:23:32] Um. This might be kind of a strange one, but I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I also have another part time job, and someone had actually called looking for community service hours. And we don’t do that at my other job. And so my boss actually said, hang on a second, I’m going to hand the phone over to Laurie. And so I started talking to her about digs, and I said, you know, as long as this. You know, not like a family violence crime. You can volunteer with Diggs. And it was a DUI. And I said, yeah, you know, that’s okay. And so she started volunteering with us and then come to find out, she has an autistic son. Oh, wow. And so it just kind of was a blessing in disguise. She had never heard of Diggs. Her son is very small. He’s, you know, like under five. But she started talking to the parents and realizing like, oh, there’s more hope for him after high school. And so that’s kind of a weird networking thing.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:32] Oh, that’s awesome, because you never know how God works, right?

Lori George: [00:24:35] And I told her, I said, I think God, honestly, I just happened to be at my other job and I happened to be there and my boss said, oh, you know, talk to Lori. And so I think I was in the right place at the right time. And she called at the right time.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:47] That’s awesome. I love stories like that. So all right. So I always kind of asked a question. So you you didn’t start Diggs, right, did you? Okay. All right. So I’m going to ask you two questions. One, to kind of think about if you yourself was to start a nonprofit, can you give some advice on somebody who’s thinking you might be doing work now working for nonprofit? And then the other thing is working for a nonprofit. Can you give some folks that might be thinking about, man, I would love to go check out and see if there are any jobs at non profit. But is there, you know, there might be some missed misconceptions I guess to think about working for non profit versus for profits. Does that make sense. Right. So can you maybe give first of all give the advice about if you’re thinking about non profit what you should do. And then if you wanted to go work for a non profit.

Lori George: [00:25:38] Mhm. Um if I were to go and start my own non profit um I think a lot of it is having like a good board and good founding members and you know having a lot of connections. You don’t want to start and it be two people and you just kind of go like okay we don’t have any community connections. You know, we rely a lot on our board. And so that that is one major thing is having a good board with a lot of connections.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:10] And you definitely need an active board. You don’t somebody just comes and just sits on their hands.

Lori George: [00:26:14] Yeah. Um, and the other thing I would say is, you know, a lot of non profits are very small. I was used to corporate and so I kind of came in and the first thing they wanted me to do was send out letters to the churches about the choir, that they were kind of active again. They had not been active during Covid. And so when I started this position, that’s when they kind of decided to bring the choir back. Um, you know, and I was like, hey, where are envelopes with your logo on it? Because to me, that’s just an easy, no brainer thing. And they were like, we don’t we don’t have the money. Like we don’t have envelopes with the logo on it. So it’s just different. But you know, it’s it’s just it’s been a learning curve.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:58] Well, and I think too, you have to have a heart and a passion and know your why. Because you’re not going to go from a corporate in a non profit and thinking you’re going to make all the money in the world, right?

Lori George: [00:27:06] Definitely. And there’s a lot of you know it’s more laid back. It’s. But I’ve never I’ve never really been stressed with digs, if that makes sense. Like even in stressful situations, I can remind myself that I’m doing good. You know, with other jobs I’ve had in the corporate world, it’s like, okay, this is stressful and there’s no insight to this. And what is the point? But working with these adults, you know, you can always remind yourself that you’re making a positive impact.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:38] When I was going to say to I mean, working for yourself and selling for yourself is a different stress than working for selling for somebody else. And like you just mentioned, you get to go home at the end of the day knowing that you’re making that impact. So you may put your stress on something about, man, I hope this event goes well, or I hope you get to find the volunteers or the board or something like that. But again, come to the end of the day, you guys are making a great impact. So I’m sure you’re probably one of the few that get to sleep well at night. Um, all right. So share again, how can people share your website and then share how people can get in contact with you in case they either want to need to find out about your services for a family member or they want to volunteer, be a sponsor or anything like that. Okay.

Lori George: [00:28:23] Yeah. So it’s Diggs rome.org. And then we have an email address which is Diggs Rome at gmail.com. And then my phone number is (706) 767-0838. And if I can’t give you the answer because sometimes, I mean people still ask me stuff that I’m not quite sure about. But our activities director was one of the founding members and she was executive director and has stepped down. So if there’s something I’m unsure about, I always go to Miss Barbara and ask, all right.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:58] So tell me again, how long has Diggs been around?

Lori George: [00:29:01] It was formed in 2006.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:03] Okay. So not quite. Almost 20 years. Almost. Yeah. Awesome. Um, and then I might have asked this earlier, but I’ve, I’ve if I did, I’ve got short term Alzheimer’s. But do you guys just work with. The folks in Rome? Or can you work with people from around the area as far as the special needs community?

Lori George: [00:29:25] Yeah, we have people that come from Cartersville, Summerville, which is like the other side of Rome. We had one girl that came a couple of times from Dalton. So yeah, if people are interested, we will definitely, you know, if they want to participate in our activities, they are more than welcome to.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:43] Okay. And then one last thing. As far as I know, you guys are talking and looking as far as possibly getting your own building and getting your own making your own business. Until that happens though, when we talked a little bit about it already. But until that happens, are there opportunities for if businesses want to partner with you in that way of offering a job? For your for your folks. Yeah.

Lori George: [00:30:10] Yeah. I mean, it would have to probably be something close to Rome. A lot of them don’t drive and rely on, you know, parents to transport. But yeah, definitely some of our adults do work. A lot of them work at like Publix and Kroger. But like I said, we just after the Rome Braves, it was so eye opening to see that it gave them so much confidence to be able to do the registers and stuff that we decided, hey, you know, it’s time we can do this. We can actually employ these people and have the the backing for them, because I think that was a lot. They were scared to go out and get a job without having kind of a job coach there that they were comfortable with.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:50] And I’m guessing it’s probably safe to say they’d probably be the most reliable employees the business would have.

Lori George: [00:30:57] Yes, most of the time I would. I would get to the Rome Braves stadium, and most of them would already be there and have done, you know, they would clean and put the condiments out. And I’m like, okay, y’all are way ahead of me.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:10] So. All right. So is there. You mentioned Kroger and Publix and running the cash register and it made such an impact. Are there certain businesses that you could see that maybe would be better than others?

Lori George: [00:31:25] Um, so I will say the register is at the Rome Braves were cashless. Okay. So anywhere that maybe doesn’t accept cash or has a register, that one particular register that doesn’t accept cash, that was that was a worry with a lot of parents was they were going to have to count back cash and change and stuff, and they didn’t have to. So, okay, any kind of business like that.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:47] So if you’re a business owner out there, especially up in the Floyd Rome area, and a lot of people complain about finding employees these days, reach out to Lori because you’ll get some good help. Definitely with these with these folks. So all right, it’s going to be a little shorter show than normal because it’s because we are the two aren’t here. But before we wrap this up, I always like to ask this question. Can you share a quote, a word, just a positive nugget that people listening can take today, the rest of 2023 and beyond with.

Lori George: [00:32:18] Putting me on the spot here?

Brian Pruett: [00:32:20] Well, if you listen to old shows, you know that comes every end of the show. So.

Lori George: [00:32:25] Um, um.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:27] You can make it up too. It doesn’t have to be.

Lori George: [00:32:32] You really put me on the spot, I don’t know. Just that, like I said, our adults, they want to get out there and try. I’ve got one that doesn’t do. Halloween is like, scared of costumes and stuff. And we’re actually participating in something called Boo Fest tonight. And they want to come out and help me hand out candy. And I said, are you sure? But they wanted to try. And I mean, who am I to tell them no.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:56] So I think just listening to you and taking away something is just try it, you know, don’t give up.

Lori George: [00:33:05] Try things you’re scared of.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:06] There you go. You know, face it head on. So the other thing I like to do is to thank you as a lost art. So, Laurie, thank you for what you’re doing for the special needs community in and around Floyd County and everybody out there listening. Let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.