Episode 1523: Interview with Kat Day about the Alora Community Nonprofit

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1523 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. Today is a special episode where I interview Kathleen Day. Kathleen and I both serve as board members. With the Alora community, a community used to support neurodivergent individuals and their caregivers. And we talk a little bit about the community and what we do.

[00:00:24] This is a special episode as part of the podcast a thon, which is a bunch of podcasts all supporting their favorite non profits. And this is mine.

[00:00:43] Kat Day: Beyond that, at some point, mom and dad become elderly themselves and can't always be there forever once that phase of their adult life comes in. Having a space like this that promotes, like you said, that community, that true sense of [00:01:00] community and belonging.

[00:01:04] Scott Maderer: Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:09] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:37] In this podcast episode, I interview Kat Day. I ask Kat about Alora, the nonprofit that we both serve. Kat shares why she's so passionate about the Alora community, and Kat also shares why Alora is so able to serve the wider community of neurodivergent individuals. Allure is a nonprofit holistic community dedicated to supporting neurodivergent individuals [00:02:00] and their caregivers.

[00:02:01] I have a great book. That's been out for a while now called inspired living, assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over at inspired living book. com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it as well as purchase a copy there.

[00:02:24] I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world. Founded by Yvette Bonilla Leach, this community integrates mindfulness and holistic wellness practices to provide compassionate, soul centered guidance. Alora focuses on creating an inclusive, nurturing space where self care, balance, and being are prioritized, helping those in their community cultivate meaningful, aligned lives.

[00:02:52] Alora is committed to shifting mindsets, deepening connections, and elevating the well being of both caregivers and their loved [00:03:00] ones. Today, I have on Kat, who serves both on the board, along with me, for this wonderful community. Hey Kat, why don't you talk a little bit about back in the day, so you actually got involved with the Laura before I did, and we're part of the early movements, of course, it's evolved and changed over time, but what was some of what actually attracted you?

[00:03:22] To being part of this organization, part of this community at the beginning.

[00:03:27] Kat Day: It's good that you talked about like the history of the grassroots aspect of it. And so Yvette and I have been friends for a long time and the biggest commonality between us is that we both have neurodivergent sons.

[00:03:44] We're ourselves neurodivergent, but our sons are both on the autism spectrum lower verbal mine has a cognitive disability as well. So we shared that in common as caregivers but also, from that [00:04:00] firsthand standpoint. That commonality made her feel really comfortable in pitching the whole idea to me early on.

[00:04:08] I guess she had already had enough forethought about it to lay down notes and plans and outlines. But she took me to Olive Garden one day, and this was in 2019. All great ideas happen in

[00:04:21] Scott Maderer: Olive Garden, right? Yeah, all the great ideas, always, right?

[00:04:25] Kat Day: And she's I have this thing this this idea that I need to pitch to you.

[00:04:28] And I'm like, okay I'm down, whatever it is. And as we sit there, she proceeds to tell me, Her idea for this amazing, almost utopian sort of living community and thriving community for neurodivergent individuals. That is done. And erected in a mindful way, but also in a way that maintains their dignity and honors the [00:05:00] different aspects of their lives as adults as well.

[00:05:05] And I just thought that was it was just really unique in the way that she was explaining it to me really did sound completely different than the group homes and the things that are available to the neurodivergent population currently, and that I've ever seen before or heard of before. And so the models that she was looking at when she was putting her idea together, they really did.

[00:05:31] According to the vet they really fell short of what she was envisioning. And 1 of the biggest aspects about this is that she wanted to make it so that there were. Thriving garden spaces and, animals on hand, like whether it be chickens, goats and basically, so the animal therapy as well.

[00:05:53] And the. Just the quiet caregiving of those animals and that therapy that can [00:06:00] naturally take place within that the compassion, the soothing aspect of having the nature around the individuals. And being able to share in the stewardship of that. And knowing that those flowers that are growing that they themselves helped to grow those flowers and what have you

[00:06:17] Scott Maderer: and it helps give back dignity and responsibility to them to that.

[00:06:21] It's not just like you're here. The folks that are members of the community are there to be members of the community. They're not there to be quote taken care of, they're part of it.

[00:06:30] Kat Day: Exactly. And then she went on to even explain, wanting to have, music studios, music rooms full of instruments that could just be played and, people be able to sign in, sign out, take turns.

[00:06:44] So as not to disturb 1 another or come in small groups, those who would like to art classes where, you know, even things as accessible. Pottery and things like that. The finer arts could be done. Things that would basically [00:07:00] give them a sense of wholeness and fullness of life.

[00:07:05] And so she obviously had me with all of that right away, thinking of, okay, what is going. What is the future going to look like for our sons? Say if they themselves wanted their own space and they didn't want to have to live with mom and dad forever. And even Beyond that, at some point, mom and dad become elderly themselves and can't always be there forever.

[00:07:28] So once that phase of their adult life comes in, having a space like this that promotes, like you said, that community, that true sense of community and belonging in a way that it's different from a group home. That is something that I was immediately on board for. And I fell in love with that vision and I thought, this is something that I can't believe we're, here in the 2000s and it still doesn't exist just yet to this capacity that you're [00:08:00] explaining to me.

[00:08:00] And so I was all in right away,

[00:08:03] Scott Maderer: When you think about it talk a little bit with me about your, so separate from a Laura, the kind of rest of your life, some of the work you do and how do you think that there's. And I'm going to ask you to talk a little bit about what you do and what you do for a living and give us a connection between some of the other work you do and what a Laura's outlook and dream is.

[00:08:23] Kat Day: Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. So I am an intuitive life coach. I have been in the mental health industry since 2014. And that's when I started taking on clients professionally and. Being both being on the spectrum myself, and then, of course, having my son and, vicariously meeting so many other people, on the spectrum, whether it be Asperger's or ADD, ADHD, autism, what have you, it definitely gave me more of an insight and an inside [00:09:00] experience to what it is to be neurodivergent. And I found that I don't know if it's by happenstance, but definitely I would say about 60 percent of my clients have been on the spectrum in one way or another, and every single one of them have always told me.

[00:09:20] How much easier it has been to communicate with me specifically as a coach than it has been with other mentors that they had spoken with or even other therapists and things like that. I really felt okay, this is part of the calling for me. That, and of course, caregivers. Yvette is amazing when it comes to working with caregivers and, takes her psychology and is able to, aid them in that way.

[00:09:48] And me I came to all of that a little later. I felt perhaps. I, even though I myself am a caregiver, it was a little bit more difficult for me to [00:10:00] acquiesce to, what different elements of their lives that differ from my own could I have insight to, and I felt that way until. I just by happenstance happened to come across a couple of caregivers within my coaching that gravitated toward me and then realized that the same essentially the same practices and things that I use with.

[00:10:25] Trauma survivors and those who suffer PTSD or different forms of grief, like it's all things that are absolutely applicable to those caregivers experiences. So that really did translate and it's something that I'm glad I've been able to cultivate within my practice and I feel as though.

[00:10:48] That part of my career stuff is definitely just 100 percent in line with what Alora does and what it exists to do hopefully more so [00:11:00] in the future as we grow and progress. And then I do a lot of public speaking as well. I've done even down to going to high schools, right for career day and what have you.

[00:11:13] So being able to talk to the youth about different elements of career stuff and, what to expect in this field. I've also been able to. Do public speaking for a group of officers about sensitivity when it comes to neurodivergent individuals. And that was particularly amazing.

[00:11:33] The officers that were present they had a lot of really great questions and in that. Experience. I realized how much room there is for reformation within our what would you call it? So our servicemen and women, the way that they interact with the neurodiverse population.

[00:11:57] And one of the biggest things that I was [00:12:00] told there is, it's not that we're insensitive. It's that If there are no visual markers. of the individual being on the spectrum or being differently abled, then our first instinct is, treat it like they're being resistant. And so how do we get around that when, quote, unquote, they look like everyone else?

[00:12:27] And this is a fair question. And it's not It's not something to be taken offense of Oh, you're doing that thing of you don't look autistic thing. It's not the same. Yes. That is what they're saying, but what they're saying is from a safety standpoint. And so that also to me just was very parallel to what the Laura started to develop later with the law enforcement sensitivity training.

[00:12:51] And training them to properly interact with and anticipate the needs of special needs individuals. So [00:13:00] I actually am particularly grateful for that aspect as well.

[00:13:03] Scott Maderer: And I think it's important to recognize that, first off that neurodivergent is a spectrum, as you said, and can cover that, that little word carries all the covers a lot of ground in terms of what it can cover.

[00:13:16] And it is hard as a, an officer first responder or someone like that to possibly know all possible things that are out there, it, that's tough. And we recognize that idea and it's not a, oh you're a bad person, Mr. or Mrs. Policeman, it's what can we do to learn and to become aware and to become more receptive and more open to the fact that maybe it's not just that they're resistant.

[00:13:41] They may have something else that's going on. And what could we do to deescalate instead of escalate the situation? Absolutely.

[00:13:49] Kat Day: And I feel as though, this is also when you get into the philosophical aspect of it, there's. There's also a lot more that could be being done by, on a [00:14:00] state and federal level with providing extra item identifications.

[00:14:05] I know that they have some but I feel as though that could be far better. Not just enforced. I don't know that enforces the word, but that

[00:14:14] Scott Maderer: uniform

[00:14:14] Kat Day: provided better provided so that individuals who Are with higher support needs if they're still able to get around the world a little bit on their own as well, just to be able to have some sort of identification on their person more visible, but without, of course, making them feel othered.

[00:14:36] So it's there are

[00:14:36] Scott Maderer: any easy answers. That's the thing is there really aren't.

[00:14:39] Kat Day: But I love the fact that Laura. Specifically has taken on that kind of initiative to support or act as a support in the interim that we're all still learning and still attempting to try and to be better, right?

[00:14:55] Scott Maderer: And again, I think too, that, so my God daughter is on the spectrum and also has [00:15:00] a developmental delay and. seeing her and interacting with her, that's one person with one set of criteria, and then when I met Yvette's son and others, it, you begin to recognize, Oh, wait a minute.

[00:15:17] This is a lot more complex than just, One person or one set of little check boxes or anything, because at the end of the day, it's really about people and it's about caring for people and for the fact that we're not all exactly the same. And that's not a bad thing.

[00:15:36] Kat Day: Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. In fact, unexpectedly, I started taking on a caregiving position. So five days a week, right after my son gets out of school he brings home one of his classmates with him. And so I am, I'm caregiving for him in the evenings whilst his grandmother is at work and everything, and he's a year older than my [00:16:00] son and his special needs are similar in so many ways.

[00:16:04] But also different and in some ways, and it's an interesting thing also to have a regular exposure to what those differences are. And I think that having him around also enriches. And that's, me rewiring the ways that I interact and that then trickles into my coaching as well.

[00:16:26] So that I'm even better prepared than I already was when it comes to dealing with special needs individuals who have those higher special needs or higher needs requirements. So it's and it's been a beautiful thing so far. I'm really loving it. And. I just, I plan on continuing to do that sort of caregiving off and on probably most of my life, just because of because of what it does for my mindset, but also for how it benefits my son as well and [00:17:00] seeing him interact directly with who is now his best friend as a result of all of this, it also makes me realize that these types of communal settings.

[00:17:12] Where, it's great because they are able to parallel play and parallel learn parallel self soothe and stuff that they just like to be around each other, but also when it's time for him to go home. It's okay, but I see you later. And my son very much enjoys his. His personal time, too.

[00:17:30] And so thinking in regards to what is that going to translate like when they have their own module? Being that's, it's right next to each other, but they don't have to be right in each other's space all the time kind of thing. And having that individuality while also wanting and needing that interaction to when they're feeling like it.

[00:17:53] I just, it's seeing that model unfold, even as we're all still going [00:18:00] through the groundwork of what that will be.

[00:18:02] Scott Maderer: When you think about some of the work that Allure is doing and aiming towards building that community space and those sorts of things. What are some of the things that you think are the most important, from your point of view, most important things that, that we continue to focus on?

[00:18:21] Kat Day: That's a, that's, man, that's a mixed bag and I say that because I know that one of the biggest things that Yvette had to do during, gosh, and I'm trying to think around what time it was that that the shift occurred, but a couple of years into Laura, it went from the farming situation in the gardening situation to because of the reception being much better with the mindful community events let's go ahead and shift focus to that.

[00:18:53] And those experiences and cultivating that within the community. And I think I really love how she [00:19:00] pivoted with that, because that was her way and the way at least that we found so far to serve the community with boots on the ground. Meeting them where they are, instead of having to facilitate 1 place that they'd always have to come out to us, which can be difficult for people.

[00:19:20] So going, inner city to parks and into places and spaces where the bigger part of the population is that would need this and making it. Just basically taking that wellness fair to them or, like the secret Santa things that she does as part of every year just taking it straight to the community like that in the.

[00:19:44] Immediate now, instead of waiting until this perfect utopian thing is built she's not, content with waiting. I love that. She's let's do what we can now where we can now. So I think that it's going to be super imperative [00:20:00] for us to meet people where they are. I love that she's doing that in the same respect the education, educational platforms that she's putting together for the working with the open futures learning as well as with the dignity project and of course the training for the law enforcement and servicemen and women and individuals, if you will service individuals.

[00:20:23] I think those initiatives are going to be. I think that I think that there is something more imperative in the now than it will be to focus on erecting an immediate community. I think that first priming and making sure that businesses and that institutions are not only aware of the different needs and the different nuances they may encounter but also that they have a healthy view and a healthy Understanding and respect for the dignity of neurodivergent individuals.

[00:20:57] I think that is so important [00:21:00] as an integral part of what's needed before she starts to put that foundation in for the communities itself. If that makes sense.

[00:21:13] Scott Maderer: When you think about folks that are hearing this, that are out there, that, that might want to support a Laura and the mission in some way. And here I'm talking more than just donating money, though, obviously, that is always welcome. What are some of the ways that you've seen, other organizations or other individuals support the mission of a Laura?

[00:21:35] Kat Day: As sponsoring, I would definitely say sponsorship is such an important part of all of this. And by that, like you said, it transcends beyond a monetary exchange. If you are a venue owner who has a space that can facilitate for. Wellness classes or art therapies or for a speaker to [00:22:00] come and sit and speak to, caregivers to give them extra resources.

[00:22:05] So definitely facilitators, right? Facilitation is always so needed. Sponsoring in that way, particularly. Or, businesses, whether they be large corporations like H E B or, even down to family owned businesses and entrepreneurs, basically anyone who has items that they feel as though they could donate Toward what we're doing, say, for example, if someone locally owns a print shop and was like, I really love what a Laura's doing, but I can't facilitate to, to pay money to donate or anything.

[00:22:40] However, for your next event, if you guys needed, 300 brochures or something. I'll sponsor the 300 brochures if you'll just get me the graphic and the things that you need printed. And so that alone, that is a sponsorship of an in-kind good. And those things, the beautiful thing about it as an incentive is [00:23:00] that it is something that is tax deductible.

[00:23:02] It's something that you absolutely can get your tax de deductible receipts from aor to. Later present and so that it's not something that goes unnoticed for you for your efforts and for your materials that you're spending into, helping the other part of it is that with those partnerships we're more than happy to, of course, add those businesses names and or the individuals.

[00:23:29] If it's individual families, whoever adding those names on to The media kits and material that we're putting out there so that people are aware that this company is giving back and that they are doing their best to help the community in some beautiful way. So there, there's absolutely just so many ways to go with all of that.

[00:23:50] And get creative. I would say just think outside of the box. Surprise us. If you've got something that you're like, I don't know if they'll go for this, just [00:24:00] ask. That's all I can say. And I don't care if it's email or DMing the Instagram just reach out because it's something that is consistently needed and always welcome.

[00:24:13] Scott Maderer: The only thing I'll add to that too, is if you're in a situation where you have an audience, and by that, either folks that are neurodivergent or caregivers or folks that are connected to that community in some way and need Need folks to come in to do things or to support in some way.

[00:24:35] I would also say, connect with us in that way too, because again, through things like the dignity project and others, we have access to some resources that can help organizations that maybe don't. Don't have access to those resources, but actually have the need. So we can facilitate connections that way as well.

[00:24:52] So it, in other words, I guess it can be a two way street too. Sometimes folks need support and don't know where to go for the support. And [00:25:00] if we don't know, or we're not the appropriate organization, we'll try to help find who they are as well.

[00:25:06] Kat Day: And so there is a resource page too, that you'll find on the Allure website where So the actual board members ourselves, we do provide certain services for clients or I don't know if clients is the appropriate word but for participants within the Alora program, right?

[00:25:25] Whether that be the caregivers or the neurodivergent individuals themselves but we do offer special services whether it be. Either pro bono or very discounted rates to make it accessible to our community's most vulnerable demographic. So if, if you yourself are in that kind of need, or you know someone who's in that kind of need, absolutely refer them, have them check out what our offerings are.

[00:25:54] If you're there and you don't see a specific offering that's in line with what you're looking for or needing again, [00:26:00] just DM or email us and we will do everything in our power to, to point you in the correct direction or even make those connections for you and get you started.

[00:26:11] Scott Maderer: Is there anything else that I haven't asked you or that you feel is important to share about a Laura,

[00:26:17] Kat Day: the mission itself.

[00:26:19] , I can I can touch on. So from a philosophical standpoint. This is obviously something that has been incredibly personal and sentimental coming from Yvette's art and soul. The entire endeavor is a reflection of who she is as a person from the inside and also the world that she creates for herself and her family on the outside.

[00:26:47] And so this is something that is coming from a mother's love, right? It's very interwoven into everything that a Laura is, you'll find something incredibly nurturing, [00:27:00] compassionate but also very strong and independent much like our founder, it has that sense of independent and walking with confidence and dignity.

[00:27:12] And holding space for others also to be completely themselves and completely at home in their own skin and in the spaces that we cultivate for ourselves and for them. It's very much in line with that come as you are philosophy, and another part of it is just. Yvette has this intrinsic belief that every single person has something of value to lend to the conversation, something of value to bring to the table, something that is inherently part of their self and their person or their talents that can enrich the environment that they're sharing.

[00:27:56] And so that shared value. [00:28:00] Of just being who you are and leaning into your authenticity and bringing that that is so very much at the core of what and who a Laura is. It's its own animal and I have seen it evolve. And grow, and it's taken on its own identity. And I would think that those particular traits and those aspects are absolutely part of that identity that is Alora.

[00:28:27] Scott Maderer: Absolutely.

[00:28:33] You can find out more about Alora Community over at Aloracommunity. org. Of course, I'll have a link to that in the show notes. If you heard more about our mission and would like to give us some support, there's a donate link there as well over at aloracommunity. org.

[00:28:57] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired [00:29:00] Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. But act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.

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