Rooted in Relationshsips offered Pyramid Model training to South Omaha early childhood professionals entirely in Spanish, translated materials and resources, and emphasized a neighborhood approach that encouraged community ownership of the work being done. Stacy Scholten says they held planning meetings and provider collaboration meetings in Spanish, as well as conducting training and coaching in Spanish. And because the Rooted’s name didn’t translate well into Spanish, they instead collaborated with the local group to call the project, Cultivando Generaciones Futuras.

Rooted in Relationships now faces an existential moment: what will the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation initiative that celebrated its first 10 years in 2023 look like without the woman who started it all?

“It might seem crazy what I’m about to say,” Pharrell Williams sings from the speaker in a Tampa, Florida, conference room. Attendees dance along, but around the room some are very serious about their task. They’ve been challenged to count the number of times the word “happy” is used in the song. So why have these early childhood professionals from all over the nation been asked to do this in the “Rev It Up, Calm It Down” session they’re attending at the National Training Institute on Effective Practices: Addressing Challenging Behavior conference? They don’t know.

With trust and local ownership, has come a sincere interest in the work Rooted in relationships is doing and a desire to sustain that work within North Omaha. Temeshia Qualls says that she has seen the pieces of the puzzle come together with Rooted work and feels something meaningful is being passed on to the families they work with. But Debra Nared asks an important question: “we may have an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than us, but what happens afterward?”