By Published on WMTV 15 News: Jan. 13, 2025
“This will be more than just office space or workshop space,” Executive Director Angela Wallace said. “It will be a place where the community around us and the disability community in particular can come together and have a safe space to interact with each other.”
For the last 22 years, Logan’s Heart and Smiles has been operating out of garages, storage units, houses and basements. Wallace said this new space will allow them to take on even more projects to serve additional families.
“We were kind of leveling out at about 15 to 16 projects a year,” she said. “Three years ago, we made the jump to 25 projects. Last year we did 49. And this year we completed 81. So, we’re really accelerating our growth.”
But she said that growth wouldn’t be possible without the help from volunteers.
The Verona Area High School football team is one group that volunteers with the nonprofit. Over the last month, the athletes and coaches have helped with some of the heavy lifting as they transition into their new space.
“It gives more value to what I do. I feel like I’m doing something better,” senior Robert Santiago Rivas said.
Athletes and coaches are learning skills off the field and outside of the weight room.
“It’s fun when the football team gets to do it because they can use it as a workout too as well,” Wallace said.
VAHS football team helped move furniture and tools into Logan’s Heart and Smiles’ location on Madison’s west side.
“We did a workout this morning and now we came right over here to do a little extra lifting and moving some things around,” Defensive Coordinator Ben Laxton said.
Logan’s Heart and Smiles’ main program builds accessibility and safety modifications in homes for children ages 21 and under who have a disability. Projects range from bathroom modifications to wheelchair ramps. The nonprofit has served a total of 340 families in the last 22 years.
“It’s a bit intimidating when we had a five year goal to do 200 projects and we’re going to hit that number in four (years). So it’s really crazy to think that where we’re going to be at year five and how many kids we’re going to impact then,” Wallace said.
Wallace said this new space will be transformed into however the community wants it to be used.
“We really don’t know what this space is going to provide because it’s limitless,” she said.
For the volunteers, the opportunity to lend a helping hand is creating team work on and off the field.
“Our biggest thing that we always talk about is creating good human beings and we try to win a few football games,” Coach Laxton said.
Athletes say projects like this help them feel more connected with the community and each other.
“It’s not just like team. It’s more like a family,” Santiago Rivas said.
Logan’s Heart and Smiles was founded by Joe Herr to honor his late son, Logan, who was born with cerebral palsy and died at the age of four. Herr started the nonprofit in 2002, six months after Logan’s death.
As Logan’s Heart and Smiles moves into its new location, they have started a wish list for community members who want to help.