- [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota, (bright music) - "R-Town, the Show About Rochester," learns about the Gift of Life Transplant House as they celebrate their 40th anniversary.

We also visit James Krom Natural Images Art Museum Gallery and learn how the gallery has grown to inspire community members and visitors.

We also get the latest from the RCTC campus, all that and so much more coming up next on "R-Town, the Show About Rochester."

(lively music) (lively music continues) Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota.

"R-Town."

(lively music continues) This year, Gift of Life Transplant House celebrates 40 years serving the community.

Here to tell us more about Gift of Life, its history, and legacy is Executive Director Mary Wilder.

Welcome to "R-Town."

- Oh, thank you so much for having us here.

We're just delighted to be a part of this.

- Well, thank you so much.

As I mentioned, this is the 40th anniversary year for Gift of Life Transplant House.

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of this house?

- I would love to, my favorite topic.

Gift of Life Transplant House actually was begun in 1984 by a gentleman named Edward Pompeian.

Ed was a two time kidney recipient and it was after his first kidney transplant that he was such an extroverted, gregarious man, he went back to the hospital to visit those people that he had met while he was recovering from his transplant.

And while he was there, he began to learn how difficult it was for people to find a place to stay once they were discharged from the hospital.

So a lot of people think about transplant like an appendectomy.

You get the surgery and then you go home to recover.

With transplant, there's a lot of work that has to be done making sure that the organ is not being rejected by the body.

So patients can stay anywhere from two months all the way up to six months.

And so Ed was learning how difficult it was for people to be able to afford a hotel or even find a hotel to stay in.

And he thought, you know, wouldn't it be great?

So he began inviting people to their home.

And they would have dinner, mom would cook, and they'd have dinner around the dining room table.

And it was in those moments when there were shared tears and shared laughter and shared stories about this lab technician or how good that doctor was, that he began to realize his vision for Gift of Life Transplant House.

And wonder if it wouldn't be wonderful to have a whole house dedicated to transplant patients.

So about 10 years later, he found the perfect house, but having no money in his by this time, he had to be a little creative.

So what happened was is he already was married, he just started a business.

He had one child and another baby on the way, and he went up to the door of the house and knocked on the door.

And the woman who owned the house came to the door and he explained to her what it was that he wanted to do.

And she was so moved and so touched, with tears in her eyes she said, "I will sell it to you for a contract for deed," but I need $15,000 to be able to get into my other home."

He had no extra money at all.

So Ed went to every person he knew in Rochester and asked if they would donate, and he was able to raise that money in a week's time.

And a week later he took the money there and Gift of Life Transplant House was born.

Now the board of directors had a lot of work to do, stripping wallpaper and painting, refinishing floors.

But December 10th, 1984, the first guest stayed overnight at Gift of Life Transplant House.

Since then, of course, as most people know, we've had two more facilities.

We now have 84 guest rooms and we're the largest transplant hospitality house in the nation.

- I had no idea about that latter part.

And as I'm listening to you, I'm like, wow, this could be like a feature film, "A Pompeian Story."

Well thank you so much for sharing that.

- [Mary] Thank you.

- And I was gonna ask you a little bit about just the mission of Gift of Life Transplant House and sort of what that looks like today.

So from 1984, that sort of core vision that Ed Pompeian had and then what that looks like today.

- Absolutely.

So the mission is to provide high-quality, affordable lodging for transplant patients and their caregivers in a supportive home-like environment.

So obviously you hear four key words in that mission statement.

The first is high-quality.

We don't want people to have to come to a place that's run down and they feel like, well, yeah, we're not paying very much, but it's run down.

So we emphasize everything being the best that it can possibly be.

Very clean, very sanitary for transplant patients.

And affordable, we only charge $30 a night.

And we can subsidize that if people are struggling financially, Oftentimes they have just been devastated financially.

And supportive, now that's the interesting thing.

Most of us, it's counterintuitive, when we're sick, we wanna go into the bedroom, get under the covers, turn on the television and click the remote and we don't want anybody to come in, leave us alone, I'm sick, I don't feel good.

But recovery happens best in community.

So around that kitchen table and around the tables at Gift of Life, patients and caregivers can share about what's happened in the day and maybe a person's having a stem cell transplant.

And this person says, "I'm a week ahead of you, I just had mine a week ago."

And they began to see how well that one is doing and that's encouraging to them.

"Okay, I'm gonna get through this.

This is tough, but I'm gonna get through that."

And then home-like, we emphasize the fact that this is a home away from home.

The entire house is yours to roam in and to be a part of.

And so we have lots and lots and lots of common areas that have televisions, games, puzzles, we have communal dining rooms, communal kitchens, people cook together, they can eat together.

And that comradery is what sets Gift of Life apart.

- I love the vision of that communal aspect.

And in your tenure as executive director, are there certain stories that sort of come to your memory of sort of some of these key communal moments that you can remember?

- Absolutely.

Let me tell you my favorite story of all, it's my favorite story.

So we had a gentleman that came to stay with us from Hawaii.

He was waiting for a liver transplant.

Now Ron is very tall.

He was in the Navy, so he had that upright walk that he had and he didn't like to wear his hearing aids, so he talked with a very deep low voice and was loud.

And he came in my office one day and he said, "Mary, I wanna talk to you."

And he had that commanding presence where you thought, okay, I said, "Ron, have a seat.

What is it that you wanna say?"

He said, "You know, when I came here, I came kicking and screaming from Hawaii.

I did not wanna come to Mayo Clinic.

I did not wanna come to Gift of Life especially.

But my wife dragged me here."

And he said the first night that he was here, his wife said, "Listen, you just sit at one of the dining room tables while I go and prepare the food."

And there were two other gentlemen that were sitting at tables a little ways away from him.

But Ron was very, he couldn't not have a conversation with a person.

And so he's kind of eavesdropping a little bit and he began striking up a conversation.

Lo and behold, these two men were there, and they both had already had their liver transplants.

By the end of the night they were fast friends and Ron said to me, "Mary, I'll never stay anywhere again.

This is the best place that I could think of to be."

So that's a wonderful, wonderful story.

Another wonderful story that we have is a guest who just a couple of days ago came up to me and said, "Mary, we've been coming here for the last 20 years and we absolutely love Gift of Life Transplant House."

"In fact," he said, "They told us about five years ago, we don't have to come back every year for appointments, but we wanna come here and see you all."

So that's why they were coming back for appointments to Mayo Clinic.

So what happens is is lifelong friendships get formed.

People find a kind of a community support that is oftentimes in this world today thought to be gone.

We think it doesn't exist anymore, but it exists within the confines of those two houses.

And within the confines of those people who are going through, as we all can imagine, a life threatening illness, they've been told, if you don't have this transplant, you're not going to survive.

So in the midst of being terrified, they come to a place where they find others who are going through the same experience and telling them, "You can get through this."

And between the support of Mayo Clinic and the support of other guests and the staff at Gift of Life Transplant House, we see a trajectory for recovery.

People don't leave us not feeling better and doing better.

- Fantastic, I loved what you had said earlier too about the community aspect being such an important part of that recovery and the support as well.

- It is.

- How do transplant patients get connected to Gift of Life and what does that process look like, in connection with Mayo Clinic and outside of that?

- Such a great question.

So we're completely independent to Mayo Clinic, meaning we're not staffed by Mayo staff, we're not funded by Mayo Clinic at all.

So the way we do that is we wanna make sure that we have a synergistic relationship with the transplant department at Mayo Clinic.

So what happens is patients come to Mayo Clinic for a transplant evaluation.

They can stay at Gift of Life Transplant House during that time.

But a lot of people are, they're so unsure that they just choose not to do that.

But they receive a packet of information and in there is a Gift of life Transplant House brochure.

So much oftentimes that's missed.

So once they get to the clinic and they begin to have their workups, they're sitting in a waiting room with other transplant patients who are at Gift of Life and they're hearing stories about what's happening at Gift of Life and how great it is, and they're being told.

In addition, the social worker that they're seeing or their doctor or their nurse coordinator are telling 'em, "Listen, you gotta go over to Gift of Life and stay.

That is the place to be."

So were it not for Mayo Clinic promoting Gift of Life Transplant House and Gift of Life Transplant House promoting Mayo Clinic, that relationship would not be what it is.

- Wonderful, we're about to wrap up here and I wanted to make sure to ask a little bit about you.

You've been the Executive Director, I also hear that you're gonna be heading into retirement quite soon.

So I would love to hear from you how you view the legacy of Gift of Life Transplant House and your own role in it as Executive Director.

- Oh, that's such a wonderful question.

Makes me wanna tear up.

You know, I've often said that this position has been the most humbling but awe-inspiring position I've ever held.

And so I want my legacy to be one that people remember that not only was the House cared for and taken care of, but also I was a compassionate leader for everyone that stayed there.

But I also have made sure that my legacy means that Gift of Life will continue on for many, many, many years.

I don't wanna see it just go on for another 40 years.

I'd like to see it go on for another 140, 240 years.

- I love that.

And as we're wrapping up here, how can people learn more about Gift of Life Transplant House, the 40th anniversary events or anything like that, if people are interested?

- So the easiest way probably is to come to our website or our Facebook page.

Our website is www.Gift-of-Life.org.

Or you can just go to Facebook and type in Gift of Life Transplant House and we'll come up right away.

- Thank you so much for joining us, Mary.

Thank you for all you've done for Gift of Life Transplant House and for sharing all about it today.

- Thank you so much, Nicole.

What a wonderful interview.

Thank you.

(lively music) (lively music continues) - Be sure to stick around, we have much more coming your way on "R-Town."

We also visit the James Krom Natural Images Art Museum Gallery and learn how the gallery has grown to inspire community members and visitors.

And we get the latest from the RCTC campus and the R-Futures segment.

(bright music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal with R-Town Spotlight.

I'm here with Jim Krom and we are checking out this art exhibit.

Truly a special offering.

Can you share a little bit more about that?

- Sure.

This gallery started about 28 years ago.

50 square feet, one of the smallest galleries in Minnesota, and it's just grown bit by bit.

Focuses on a theme of nature and mostly upper Midwest artists.

- How do you find the artists?

Or do they find you?

- So it started with me and my mentor, his daughter and son-in-law.

So a close-knit group then, is about 150 artists now.

And some have been referred by fellow artists to me and then others are referred by customers, guests, patients of the clinic.

- [Danielle] So we have wood carving, we have- - Bronze work, yeah.

So there's art glass, there's bronze, there's wood carvings, there's paintings, jewelry, five, six categories.

Everything in here is original work as opposed to a print or reproduction, so that's kind of a unique thing.

- I remember when I was working downtown, I remember the small square and, you know, footage, and now you have quite the vast gallery.

How has that journey been for you?

- It's been fun to be able to have some of those first pieces, like some of the display cases that I have that were built from cabinets that came from Salvation Army and a third-hand glass display became kind of the anchor of design for the glass cases that you see throughout the gallery.

- What has the feedback or response been for the variety of art that's offered here in the gallery and the reception to be in downtown Rochester?

- Well the first reaction people have is they don't understand why a gallery would be by a hospital.

But if you flip it around, it's like the perfect place for the gallery because we're stressed from things that we're dealing with.

Nature's a beautiful thing we can enjoy and artwork brings it in to the human communication side inside.

When I see 'em come through the doorway in the gallery and they're, you know, dealing with heavy things within a matter of minutes, I can see a change for them, that they're not thinking about that.

That they're enjoying things around them.

(bright music) (bright music continues) - Okay, so if you could share a little bit more about some of the artists' background.

- So a lot of the artists were ones that when I was exhibiting my artwork at shows, we had a relationship already connected through our art and they came on board.

And some from the local community as well, we definitely have some Rochester artists within the gallery.

- Right, what do we have here?

- So this piece is by Robinson Scott, he's a Minnesota glass blower, and I'll tip it so you can see.

Do you see the little patterns around the outside?

- [Danielle] I do.

- So he was presented a photography from a friend of butterflies, and the closeups of the wings is what inspired that.

The little eyes on the butterfly wings.

And so as you look on the inside, you can also see how all the veining in the wings kind of carried out through too.

So Robinson Scott's work from Anoka, Minnesota.

- That's beautiful.

I love that you have Minnesota artists here represented, and then beyond, right?

Outside of Minnesota.

- Oh yeah, yeah.

- So, my grandmother, her favorite bird were hummingbirds.

- Oh yeah?

- And every time I see a hummingbird they remind me of her.

This is absolutely stunning.

- Oh cool.

- Wow.

- Then it's good for today that it's focused.

So do you see the coloration in there?

- Yes, I do.

- So this is a wood carving.

- Is it really?

- Yeah.

- Oh my goodness.

- And people look at it and initially think we have stuffed birds, but these are all wood carvings.

This was done by a goldsmith who did jewelry for many years and he felt confined by the space and decided he wanted to do something different.

So for this man, the intricacies of the details and the iridescence in there is something that he's fascinated by.

How can all that exist in this beautiful little bird?

Whereas the butterfly wing that we looked at before, just that unusual pattern of one small section.

So it's not like it has to not be, it can be abstract, it can be representational, it can all be art, but if it's in the artist's heart and communicated clearly, then I think you have something.

From the customer side, I really love that we have conversations about their experiences and the art brings 'em to it.

- Do you have reoccurring visitors?

- Oh yeah.

Yep.

When they come, they come back again.

- This is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Spotlight."

I'm gonna take a little walk around the gallery - [Announcer] For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter @KSMQ #RTown, or ksmq.org/rtown.

(lively music) (lively music continues) (lively music continues) (lively music continues) (bright music) - I'm standing in the third floor college center in an area known as The Hive.

Coming up soon is the live concert event Live at the Hive.

Music instructor Aaron Shannon produces the concert where RCTC students get to use their experience to run professional sound and lights for some really great bands.

- Live at the Hive, third floor cafe at RCTC.

Where we have Amateur and Manifest playing.

So in the past we've had Falcon Arrow, that's a Minneapolis band.

They were my guinea pigs 'cause I knew them.

I was like, I wanna try this out with the class and see how it works, and it worked really well.

After that, it's all southeast Minnesota, mostly Rochester bands.

F7, they were all students.

JT and the Gunslingers, they're pretty well known for around here.

And JT was actually a student here.

New Funk, and that was a lot of students in that band.

Root River Jam, the Dsievers, which John Sievers is, that's his jazz group played, and they played with a Root River Jam that year.

(lively music) - I'm excited to do it.

I mean, it's gonna be a great experience.

I've heard some of their songs, it's great band.

So yeah, I'm just really to see how this turns out.

Personally, like I am an audio engineer so I really picked up a lot for the live sound part and running sound and it's just a lot of stuff I didn't know and a lot of stuff I just wasn't sure of that I got cleared up from with Aaron.

And it's been just overall great, and like the lights and the video, it's just, it adds on and it's pretty much all in the same like area of work and it's pretty cool.

Yeah, it's just interesting to learn.

- This is a free show.

This is a experience for students.

So student life is putting it on with the music tech club and it's an experience for all the students just to come in and to have a really good band come in and play and get real experience with the gear.

Friday, December 6th at six o'clock.

♪ Throw your hands up and let me hear the party say ♪ - The Tabletop Gaming Club is one of the largest and most dedicated clubs on campus.

Club President Nick Schmidt explains what the club is all about.

- I could have sold you all out and I chose not to.

- It's mostly just a place for us college students at the end of a long week of classes and lectures and test and exams to just come out and hang out with people, meet new friends, play new games, play board games, tabletop games, trading card games, any game, just a generally a place to hang out and relax.

We do have a bunch of board games.

We are just currently lacking people with the interest to play said board games, but some days we like to shift things around and just have a general day to just do board game stuff.

And we're very open to suggestions for new board games that we should own as a club.

(students chattering) - It's a consistent place to play with.

If I go to an LGS or a local game store, then there is a lot of people there and it's sometimes hard to both find a game that isn't already going and also have that game be at the level you prefer.

So when you are only playing against the same like five people every week, it's a lot easier to get on that same level.

- Tabletop role-playing games are generally really fun for me because they end up like opening up a world that is so much more interesting and fun to explore than our own.

You end up seeing and experiencing things that, well I guess not seeing per se, but in your mind's eye you see, things that you never would get to see or experience in the real world.

And you get to have some moments of glory, moments of sorrow.

It's generally that sort of escapism that really appeals to me.

- We meet every Friday from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Every Friday, including summer.

- This is sort of, this is scheduled so it's like, you know people are going to show up on Friday.

You know that people have set time aside in their schedules for this day.

So the consistency and the reliability of being able to come here and spend time doing what I love is what I really enjoy about games club.

- We like to have fun every Friday.

It's a nice way to relax and, you know, get some good R and R time in after a long stressful week.

- Thank you for joining us today.

I hope you learned as much as I did about all that's going on in our city and all the wonderful people making it happen.

For more content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at #RTown.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, host of "R-Town, the Show About Rochester."

We'll see you next time.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.