On Feb 10th we will be hearing from Shane Hick speaking about RebootVA Early in Shane’s military career, during hand-to-hand combat training, he sustained two torn retina, a concussion, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). After four surgeries, he was unexpectedly medically separated. At the time, his spouse was unemployed, they’d just taken on a $200K mortgage at what they thought would be their duty station, and he faced the very real concern of not being able to pay their bills nor put food on the table. They had to engage with numerous Veteran’s Service Organizations and retain an attorney to fight for their benefits. They also had to learn what employment and business opportunities were available to them, as he struggled with the daily symptoms brought on by his injuries. For the past 10 years, he has worked with various startups and established businesses to help them grow. The intent of RebootVA is to focus these efforts on Veterans and their supporting families, by surrounding them with the proper people and resources, to enable them to find employment or start their own businesses, just like they had to do many years ago.”

On Feb 17^th we will be hearing from Ruth Thompson Founder, Hugs Cafe, Inc. In 2012, she dreamed of a restaurant where the majority of those employed would be adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  With the support of her husband, she formed a nonprofit organization and in October 2015, opened the doors to Hugs Cafe.  Through a lot of hard work and the grace of God, the dream became a reality.  During the fall of 2018, the organization opened Hugs Greenhouse, another social enterprise that employs other adults with special abilities who have no interest in working in food service but a love of the outdoors.  In 2015, Ruth was named one of McKinney’s Top 25 Women in Business. She has been given the Community Builder Award by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas. In 2017, she received the “Quality of Life” Award from the McKinney Community Development Corporation.