God Winks
Tammy Anderson’s motto, summing up her entire work career in the nonprofit industry. The implications of her commitment, contributions, and the affiliations that have resulted from her work are palpable.
Tammy has spent her career writing grants, growing and managing nonprofit donor systems, planning fundraising events, and telling the stories of her clients. She breaks barriers, bringing awareness to - and advocating for - the nonprofit world.
Tammy’s first “grown up” job was working for about 15 years as a childcare center director. Despite the challenges, Tammy said she loved her job, in part because her kids grew up in it and she had the opportunity to be with them each day. She also played an integral part in the center’s growth.
“We were kicked out of our location because they needed the space we were leasing. We felt we had no alternative than to close the center,” Tammy said. “It was pretty grim, as far as how we were going to find a new place - but we ended up doing it. We built a new center and got it going in a super short time frame. That was a long time ago - and the center is still flourishing.”
Turns out that was just the beginning of Tammy’s grant writing days. In fact, Tammy taught herself grant writing out of necessity and, despite everyone telling her she wouldn’t like it, that it was too much work, and she’d have to take a lot of classes, she was determined and got really good at it… perhaps because she listens to her inner voice.
“I think it was a God thing … well, I know it was because I was very happy in my job as a childcare center director. I really loved it,” Tammy said. While writing grants one day, she stumbled upon a website from an agency in Minneapolis.
“I don’t know why I even clicked on it, because there’s no way I would live in Minneapolis. That’s just not me,” she said. In fact, it was a local hospice agency looking for a fundraiser development person. Tammy felt a strong tug of interest, despite having no experience with hospice, and decided to “see what happens.” She applied… and got the job.
Tammy made quite a jump from early childhood to hospice, but she loved it. Ironically, it wasn’t long before she discovered the true purpose in why she was pulled to make this change.
Her daughter, who was about three at the time, befriended a next-door neighbor. She would color pictures and leave them for him on his car, even though she never saw him. Ultimately, they discovered this neighbor was a recluse. He had served in the Korean War, was a recovering alcoholic, was super quiet, and just kept to himself. He quickly became sort of an “adopted grandpa.” As they fostered a relationship, they learned his life story and of the trauma he had experienced. When this neighbor ended up with a cancer diagnosis, Tammy was able to direct him to the resources he needed and get him reconnected with his family through her association with hospice and the social workers. Tammy was able to assist in getting “adopted grandpa” into a foster home, where he lived another six months.
“One night,” Tammy said, “he was having ice cream and said, ‘My dead sister is here. She came to get me.’ He died that night, and it was a beautiful, peaceful death.”
Tammy is still connected with his family (interestingly, his daughter and Tammy share a birthday) and believes she was in the right place at the right time. Following that tug to apply for the hospice job was simply so she could help this man when he most needed it.
“That was why I was sent there,” Tammy said, “…just for him. He was a beautiful human. We just loved him.”
But Tammy’s influence didn’t stop there. She recognized one of the dilemmas of hospice is that people wait too long to call and are dying without a lot of the support they could have. As Tammy pondered this issue, she began wishing she could hold a big awareness event. During this time, she heard about Harmon Killebrew, who in addition to his fame as a Minnesota Twins Baseball Player and National Baseball Hall of Famer, was also a huge advocate and volunteer for hospice. He eventually went on hospice care himself and started sharing his story with the public. He died at age 74.
Tammy and Nita Killebrew
Working in her office one day, Tammy heard that small voice in her head again, this time saying, “You need to write to his wife. You need to tell her thank you for being good advocates.” Tammy remembers thinking to herself, “I don’t even know his wife” and ignored it. When the tug or feeling to reach out persisted, she wrote a little note of condolence and a thank you for being such great advocates for hospice and sent it off.
Six months later, Tammy received a phone call from Harmon’s wife, Nita, who said, “We’re supposed to know each other. I feel it. We’re supposed to do something together. I’m flying to Minnesota. Can you come to a Twins game and meet me?”
“As soon as I met her, it was like ‘you’re the sister I never had,’” Tammy said. “We actually look alike. She’s amazing. She had a desire to carry on Harmon’s passion. She said he would take the time for anybody, especially those with disabilities. I heard so many stories about the impact Harmon had on people and their self-esteem. Nita wanted people to know about the man outside of baseball and I wanted to create something about hospice.
Together, we created Harmon’s Heart of Hospice Event.” The first year this event was held, Tammy said they had 31 sponsored charter buses transporting people from surrounding communities to the tailgate party in Alexandria, held in the Cub Foods parking lot. They also had a police escort out of town as they left for the game in the Twin Cities. The focus of this event has since shifted to people with disabilities, but has remained an annual event to this day.
After ten years with hospice and spearheading the Killebrew event, Tammy felt things begin to change. She recalls some of the joy began to dissipate, and it didn’t feel as fulfilling as when she first started. She knew she was being pulled towards the next thing she was meant to do.
“It wasn’t good or bad, it was just different,” Tammy said. “One night I woke up in the middle of the night and the voice in my head said, ‘You need to go talk to the CEO out at Productive Alternatives. You’re supposed to be there.’”
Productive Alternatives is a workforce center for individuals with disabilities. Tammy had met with them through the Killebrew events. So, the next morning, she decided to see what would happen and left to talk to the CEO.
“I feel like I really need to be on your team,” Tammy said. “What do you want to do?” he asked her. Tammy rattled off the vision she had, telling him she wanted to grow his donor base, assist with marketing, and tell the stories of the clients.
Without hesitation, he replied, “That sounds amazing. Let’s do it.” It was during her time at Productive Alternatives that Tammy learned not to sweat the small stuff… and had a lesson in humility about slowing down.
She was at the office one day, just a couple days away from a Killebrew event, super busy, frantically trying to get ready, when she noticed one of her autistic special-needs adults seemed quite taken with her blue jacket.
“Tammy, what color jacket is that?” he asked.
“It’s blue,” she said.
“What color blue?”
“Baby blue.”
“No, I don’t think that’s right.”
Frustrated, and in a hurry, Tammy took a deep breath, ushered him over to the computer screen, and googled “blue-tone colors.”
“That’s it! That’s the color,” he finally said.
“What is it then, what’s the color?”
“It’s robin’s egg blue.”
That was it ... and he left.
“I started to cry because of all the shades of blue - and I was too busy to even notice,” Tammy said through tears. “He taught me to stop, take a breath, slow down, and then just see. I think we’re so busy, we just push through life and miss so much. He taught me to slow down ... and I will always have that coat.”
Tammy recalled another special-needs resident who would be dressed in the craziest things – “shorts, long socks, cowboy boots, funky hat, disco beads, whatever … and he would rock it!,” she said. “He was so confident in whatever weird outfit he was wearing – and I’m like, ‘why am I worrying about what I look like. I want to be like him. This is me. Take it or leave it, and have a good time.’”
During her time at Productive Alternatives, Tammy played an integral part in starting the Perham 180 Housing Program, which assists people in recovery to transition back into the community, giving them a safe place to live, and helping them find work. An idea/dream she had heard from the Productive Alternatives team, paired with opportunity, was born when she was in Perham one day talking with a CEO of another company on a completely unrelated matter. She happened to notice some mobile buildings sitting at the company that weren’t being used. It all started with a little voice in her head, urging her to “ask him about the trailers, what’s he going to do with them.” She did just that, and before she knew it, the housing program was born.
“It happens to me all the time,” Tammy said. “I think it happens to everybody. Some people just don’t pay attention to that little voice. I try to pay attention.”
After working at Productive Alternatives for quite a few years and continuing with the Killebrew events, the Covid pandemic arrived and life just stopped. If you haven’t already guessed, Tammy embraced the “new normal” and made the most of it!
“I always had a desire to start my own business within the nonprofit world, which I love,” Tammy said.
During the pandemic layoffs, she started to feel another tug. She thought it a little scary to venture from a regular job and paycheck to starting something new, hoping it works, having a vision, but not knowing for sure. Tammy took advantage of the pandemic downtime to develop her dream job and slowly began launching her new business. She started telling people about it, built a website, and got her rst client (which didn’t take long, as she’s no stranger to the nonprofit world). Her new business went from zero to 60 in no time - and Acorns 2 Oak Consulting was up and running.
“I’m very blessed, my clients are all amazing, and I’ve learned so much,” Tammy said. While she can work in any industry, her passion revolves around hospice, the arts, mental health, animals, and recovery homes. She says the grant writing process is the same, but the stories are all different.
One of Tammy’s first clients was one of the local recovery homes. While Tammy said she had no experience working with addiction at the time, she garnered so much knowledge from them, saying, “they’re so open.” Tammy helped start Barbara’s House, a faith-based recovery home for women, as well as helping build awareness through stories and breaking some of the stigma that plagues people struggling with substance use.
“One day, one of the residents happened to show me a work of art he had done,” Tammy said. “It was beautiful, and I was like, ‘Wow, you are so talented!’” Though Tammy knew he didn’t believe her, she decided to show it to a local art director, who also loved it. Tammy asked if the art director would consider taking five minutes to write a little note to this timid resident artist. She did, and the resident, who once thought he was worthless, heard what he’s never heard before – “she thinks I’m amazing.
No one has ever said that. I thought I was worthless.” The art director at the gallery asked to put his artwork in the show. Having no money to have it matted, the gallery bore the cost to have his work matted and framed. All the residents at the recovery house went to the art show to see it. This talented, artistic resident, who now realized his own worth, had changed. With his confidence growing, he dove into the arts and was inspired.
“This led to partnering with the local arts gallery, in writing grants to have an art program for folks in recovery. The program has been in place the past two years. It’s been really life changing and therapeutic for the residents,” Tammy said. “I’m working behind the scenes to help the clients I loved because we’ve now expanded that arts program to Perham.
Partnering with Perham Center for the Arts, we wrote grants so people in recovery in Perham, folks with disabilities at Productive Alternatives and group homes, and seniors in long-term care can get that same opportunity free of charge. No one should be denied the opportunity because they don’t have money to participate. So – that’s what we did this year, and Perham Center for the Arts had its first art show on February 6, 2024.”
One aspect of Tammy’s career, and likely the only aspect that isn’t nonprofit, is her work with Pope, Otter Tail and Becker Counties as their Childcare Project Manager. She creates and facilitates childcare solutions, reminiscent of her childcare days.
“I’m still a childcare person. I always will be,” she said.
Speaking of Tammy’s childcare hat, she said her very first job has come full circle. Some of the kids she had in childcare are now professionals that work with her, including her plumber and financial advisor. Another God wink.
As for Tammy’s vision for the future … she said she could probably grow, but she’s really content right now and doesn’t want to lose her love for being in the trenches with her clients. She appreciates walking alongside them, becoming a part of their team.
“It’s so fulfilling,” Tammy said. “I don’t want to lose the passion for it.”
She also doesn’t want to get so big she wouldn’t have time to grab a cup of coffee with an agency, or especially with a resident or a client.
“I do a lot of mentoring with folks,” she said. “I don’t want to lose that either. I really enjoy that aspect and it’s fun!”
Tammy says so much of what she accomplishes depends on who you know and the relationships you develop. One contact may connect you with another. It’s about helping one another. She tries to build and maintain relationships with her donors so they know, in her words, “here’s what happened with your money. A lot of donors and foundations don’t hear the cool stuff.”
“I’ve met amazing people and donors who love the mission, because you build a lot of relationships with my kind of work,” she added.
Tammy’s next challenging adventure... dyslexia. While this is still a work in progress, she has a strong desire to pull together early screening and assessments.
She said many in recovery homes are dyslexic, and feels there is a strong correlation between the two.
“Someone needs to care about it. We need to figure it out because 1 in 5 people have it and yet most do not even realize it. We need to give them some hope before they get lambasted and think they’re stupid. Dyslexia is actually a gift that comes with incredible talents,” Tammy said. “We have a team of really good people. We just have to start figuring out how to make it all happen.”
Another inspiring story was when one day Tammy was driving, listening to music, and... you guessed it... she heard, “you need to start a recovery choir for the community because music is healing and important.”
“I’m like, I don’t know anything about starting a choir, but it sounds interesting and that would be cool,” she said. She mentioned it to a mentor at the Matthew House, who immediately was eager to help. In fact, he had been searching for something that could foster his love of music. Another female mentor at a women’s house, a gifted singer, was also intrigued and said “yes.” They put together a full band, complete with a song list, and now all they have left to do is invite people. There are also plans to put on a fundraising event to support the recovery homes in the community, too.
“It comes together because the communities are amazing. People are very passionate about their communities. I’m just kind of facilitating it and getting the passionate people together. They will run with it and make things happen.”
Why Acorns 2 Oak? Tammy acknowledged that nonprofits come in all shapes and sizes, and she wants to help them grow.
“Acorns are so small, but they grow into this mighty oak,” she said. “It’s the growth. Everybody’s kind of on a different part of that growth. I think oak trees are interesting, and trees in general, because underneath is a mighty oak and it’s like the same below as it is up on top. A lot of people don’t realize the important impact that nonprofits are making, but there’s strength in the roots of nonprofits. They’re like the heart and soul of communities… and so I really liked the thought behind Acorns 2 Oak, kind of like we’re growing along with them.”
The impact of Tammy’s work would be impossible to contain in one story. She always sees the best in people. Her work in the nonprofit world has been so much more than helping nonprofits grow. When people receive the encouragement they need and start to realize their own self-worth, they too can do great things.
Tammy & Matthew House resident went flying for his 60th birthday
“So many people have the power to do amazing things,” Tammy said, “which maybe in their mind doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it’s huge. I think sometimes we limit ourselves on the possibilities. Let’s not limit the possibilities, but rather find a way to make it happen – and you don’t have to do that alone. We’re just better together, anyway. Everybody is good at something, and if we can find where peoples’ talents and passions lie and bring them together... it’s really fun to see.”
Tammy lives in Fergus Falls with her husband, Dean. The couple were high school sweethearts, have been married going on 34 years, and have three children. Their oldest child, Meagan, and her husband Reed, have three daughters -- Maren (8), Sophia (6), and Mila (3). They flip houses in the Duluth area, where they live. Middle child, Evan, lives in Fargo and is an engineer for Bobcat. Evan’s wife is Taylor, and they have a son Kane (18 months). Youngest son, Nathan, is a corporate pilot for NetJets, also living in Fergus Falls.
Art work completed by a former resident of one of the recovery homes. This resident was mentioned in this story and helped to create the arts in recovery opportunity. He has recently passed away from cancer, but Tammy saved this text message from him:
“I’m far from happiness, but it does seem closer sometimes. I thank you from the deepest depths of my heart for your continued support and unwavering faith in me, ma’am! I feel I’ve only achieved this because of your belief in me.”
“This is an example of why I love my work. I get to see the amazing but often behind the scenes work nonprofits do in our communities.”
-Tammy Anderson
This article was featured in the Spring 2024 edition of Definitive Woman Magazine.
