A Night at the Museum

Maria Hernandez hosts an evening to remember at nonprofit Growing Roots’ annual fundraising event.

By Victoria Mycue

July 2014 AW cover woman Maria Hernandez is the president and founder of Growing Roots, a nonprofit that works with families of children with special needs. Different from other special-needs organizations in Austin, Growing Roots uses a through-the-parents approach.

“The focus is on offering classes and support groups and case management,” Hernandez says.

This unique objective has helped the organization gain traction quickly. After establishing in East Austin in 2010, Growing Roots now serves families in 49 zip codes. With the annual fundraiser event on the horizon, Hernandez speculates the event will be a success.

“Come, have a good time. It’s really going to be fun,” Hernandez says, noting the event is open and welcoming. “We’re going to have live music, Peached Tortilla is catering and there’s an open bar. The idea is having fun together. [Experience] an event where you’re going to get to be playful.”

A Night at the Museum is Sept. 25 at Thinkery. Hernandez says holding the event at a children’s museum allows adults to “remember how to be a kid again.” Hernandez also wants to maintain a lighthearted atmosphere at the event, something all too rare at other nonprofit galas.

“Sometimes, when you look at nonprofit events, they feel a little serious and very formal, and we wanted this to be more about community and remembering why we do this work,” Hernandez says. “The Thinkery is an awesome place. It’s all interactive exhibits. … This way, it can be adults playing.”

Keeping with the kid theme, the event will have an adult mac-’n’-cheese bar, complete with toppings like bacon jam and truffle oil, and a build-your-own-taco bar.

“Because a lot of events are expensive or because there’s a little bit of exclusivity to them, we really want this to be community-focused. That’s why we make it 35 bucks,” Hernandez says. “Most people can come, and if that’s the most you can give when you come, then fantastic. If you are able to get there and say, ‘Hey, my business will do this at this capacity,’ it allows for both.”

Because of this, Hernandez expects a diverse group of people, estimating 250 attendees at this year’s event.

“Many attendees have experience with children with special needs,” Hernandez says. “Because we work a lot with the health-care community and the school community, we have physicians and health-care providers, and then we also have educators and school administrators, as well as parents of special-needs children and philanthropic businessmen. … A parent who has recently gone through our programming who can tell the story of why this was helpful for them and their family will speak at the event.”

The goal of the Night at the Museum annual event has always been twofold, Hernandez says. Half of it is maintaining stable funding to keep Growing Roots running and expanding. The other half is “shifting the language around disability to talking about ability.” Through Growing Roots, Hernandez has strived to educate communities about special needs and disability.

Instead of saying, “There’s a limitation; there’s something you’re not able to do,” Hernandez says we should be asking, “How do we empower strengths?

“The platform of the event helps us do both: allow attendees to consider becoming partners for our work while at the same time rethinking disability and how to re-language it,” Hernandez says. “It’s going to be a great way to connect to our work while coming together to have a good time.”

Enduring Legacy

The latest from philanthropic AW cover women.

Sarah Evans
December 2013 AW cover woman Sarah Evans is the founder of Well Aware, a nonprofit that provides clean water to East Africa. Since the release of her cover story, Evans and her Well Aware team have put in 11 more high-yielding water systems. The number of people served by these systems has increased from 35,000 to 96,000. Evans and two of her team members traveled to Haiti last month to advise NGOs on existing water-system issues. As an expert in her field, Evans will continue to work toward internationally sustainable water infrastructure.

Courtney Santana
May 2012 AW cover woman Courtney Santana is a musician and the founder of Survive2Thrive, an organization that helps survivors of domestic violence. Survive2Thrive is partnering with August 2006 AW cover woman Kendra Scott to create a public-awareness campaign called We Are Worthy in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This October, Kendra Scott Jewelry will feature designs with the official DVAM color—purple—as a part of the campaign partnership.

Caroline Boudreaux
July 2008 AW cover woman Caroline Boudreaux is the founder of The Miracle Foundation, an organization that works to transform orphanages throughout India, turning under-providing, overcrowded, oftentimes neglectful orphanages into loving, nurturing children’s homes. In May, Boudreaux gave a TED talk in Austin about her unexpected first visit to an Indian orphanage and her journey while creating The Miracle Foundation. Boudreaux and The Miracle Foundation were also featured in Country Woman Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor earlier this year.