Today we’d like to introduce you to Rolanda Macharia.
Hi Rolanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Detroit, Michigan, raised in Los Angeles, California, and moved to McKinney Texas in 2005, I am married to James Macharia, a native of Nairobi Kenya. I have 5 adult children and 17 grandchildren.
I have worked at Bank of America, mortgage department in management for 21 years, and have been a board member for North Central Texas Workforce Solutions for 9 years, and the President and Founder of L.I.F.T. R&R, a 501c3 Non-profit Organization that provides resources and referrals to those in need.
I was a Facilitator of Getting Ahead classes in McKinney Texas for 3 years, served as a Sunday school Youth Teacher at F.G.F.D.T. Church in McKinney Texas, and Eternity Community Church for 13 years, and a public speaker. I contribute any success that I’ve had to a saving grace and a loving Heavenly Father. My greatest achievements are my children and the bond they have fostered for one another.
In 2014, my husband of 19 years, tragically died in our house fire. With 5 children, the youngest being 15 years old, I was in search of grief resources that could help me and our youngest who was in serious need of comfort healing and grief resources. In searching it was so difficult to find what was needed, after much digging, I realized that the resources were there, they were just hard to find. I immediately decided the gap was the need to make resources easily identifiable and available to the communities they serve.
In 2015 we launched an outreach program to help people in need. People whose loved ones had died and they didn’t know where to turn for grief services. We told them about griefshare. They had children and didn’t know DFW offered a free 3-day grief camp to help their children. We told them about Camp Erin. Another woman’s fiance in another state had been critically injured in a car accident and had major brain damage and forgot who she was, she was devastated and had posted on Facebook how depressed and overwhelmed she was and asked for prayer. Our LIFT team wrote her a letter of encouragement, provided encouraging scriptures and our youth drew and colored her a picture and we sent it via messenger to her. Her response made us all cry and we then realized just how a small act of kindness, care, and compassion, truly made impacts and was very much needed. People in Mckinney were sleeping on the floor with no beds or furniture we provided them info for Bedstart who provided them free beds and free linen and free furniture.
This is who we are, this is what we do, this is our story.
LIFT R&R stands for laboring in the field together resources and referrals. Our hearts mission is to do our part to help make lives easier for those who are experiencing difficulty by providing resources and referrals. We partner with other non-profit organizations, community partners, and state and local institutions who are offering resources to help others. We provide these referral services FREE. We help nonprofit organizations with exposure via our Social Media platforms at no charge. We are here to LIFT up and support our community. We are aware that your heart wants to help others with no or low-cost services but lack of finances to advertise makes it difficult to get the word out so we do this for FREE.
People need everything from beds, diapers, food, grief counseling, shelter, training, spiritual resources, education, and much much more. If you are trying to help them, we are wanting to help you and let people know you’re there. Thank you all for believing in this Mission, we are here to help everyone in any way that help is needed.
We are helpers one to another. May God’s hand be on this organization as we help others in this world with our mission of service.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Learning and growing as a nonprofit Executive Director has had its challenges, I went back to school along with key personnel for NonProfit Management to ensure that passion and purpose also had understanding and practical application.
I was raised not to ask others for anything, If I needed a cup of sugar, I would purchase from the store versus asking a neighbor. I quickly learned that running a nonprofit required seeking donors grants, expertise and other diversity of income streams to run the programs and events. This was a hard lesson for me but one I’m learning to embrace since what we’re doing is needed to help our community thrive.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My professional full-time job is Mortgage servicing and workforce management with Bank of America for 21 years. In addition, for the past 9 years, I’ve been on the Texas Workforce Solutions North Central Texas Board of Directives which I find great joy in as we help Texans with career exploration, careers, training, and childcare all to help families thrive. I’m known not for my professional work in corporate but for my Nonprofit work through LIFT R&R. My upbringing was challenging and I learned the importance of having resources, financial, mental, spiritual, mentorship, and people believing in you enough to extend opportunities to help you grow. I have now made it my life’s mission to help others because there is rewarding fulfillment in helping see lives changed in a positive way and changing generations.
What matters most to you? Why?
Family and Ministry matters so much to me. I have 5 children, 19 grandchildren, and both my parents are still living. Four generations our pouring history, love, and memories into each other. I have taught my children to be there for each other, don’t see your sibling struggling, and not lend a hand to help them back up. My legacy is incredibly important to me, I want my family to know they are loved, feel they are loved, and remember how my relationship with God 24 years ago changed my life. A teenage mom at 16, homeless at 14, a high school dropout in the 9th grade, and running from an abusive household, I accepted Christ 24 years ago, and He provided me people who believed in me, gave me career opportunities that I’m still at 21 years later, I learned about home mortgages at my job and bought my first home in California providing stability for my children which broke generational cycles of poverty, I went back to school pursued a higher education and now all my children have prioritized school and some have purchased homes and rental properties and started their own businesses.
My entire life changed 24 years ago and because it did the lives of my future generations changed for the better. The book I authored and published in 2021 shares the live I lived and how family played a major role in me seeking Christ and changing my life.
Ministry is the heartbeat of my life. Ministry into the lives of others is the legacy I want to leave behind.
Contact Info:
- Website: Liftrandr.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftrandr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liftrandr/
- Other: https://smile.amazon.com/ap/signin?openid.pape.max_auth_age=3600&openid.return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fsmile.amazon.com%2Fcharity%3Fein%3D84-3332017%26orig&openid.identity=http%3A%2F%2Fspecs.openid.net%2Fauth%2F2.0%2Fidentifier_select&openid.assoc_handle=amzn_smile_mobile&openid.mode=checkid_setup&marketPlaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&language=en_US&openid.claimed_id=http%3A%2F%2Fspecs.openid.net%2Fauth%2F2.0%2Fidentifier_select&openid.ns=http%3A%2F%2Fspecs.openid.net%2Fauth%2F2.0
