Wall art business offers backyard vistas while giving back to local charity
By JAN HOGAN VIEW STAFF WRITER
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Most people start a business as a way to support themselves. Rhonda and Lloyd Roenfeldt started their business to do more than that. They also want to feed the needy.
With that intent, they opened a new business, Vegas Wall Scapes, in January. Their product allows customers to decorate a plain backyard much like advertising wraps buses. Wall Scapes' mesh vinyl banners snap onto a plain cement wall with a photo depicting just about anything a homeowner chooses.
The business is in its fledging stages, so no checks have been made out yet to their charity of choice, but the Roenfeldts are no strangers to helping out. They moved to Las Vegas from Southern California where they held joint titles as director of social services at Gateway City Center, a homeless facility in Hollywood.
"It's at the corner of Santa Monica and Vine. It's not the best area of town," Rhonda Roenfeldt said.
The couple worked there three years, helping feed the hungry with about 200 meals a week. Gateway also handed out clothing, had facilities for showering and offered classes.
"It didn't have facilities for sleeping, but it did offer just about everything else," Rhonda Roenfeldt said.
To keep their own heads above water and provide for their two children, the couple secured other, better-paying jobs.
Lloyd Roenfeldt was a lighting technician. Rhonda Roenfeldt did secretarial work and also sold vintage clothes on the Internet. They also managed an apartment building, a job which allowed them free rent. Each month, they used extra money they earned to help out Gateway, about 20 percent of their net income.
Their largess was more than monetary. For a time, they took in a young boy who was living with his grandmother in her car. They also paid for repairs to that car and helped get the little family back on its feet.
Now they are in Las Vegas, hoping their Wall Scapes business will allow them to help a charity here. As for which charity to help, they are scrutinizing those that assist homeless teens and said they will up their donation to 30 percent each month. Part will go to Gateway, the rest to the teen charity here.
In Las Vegas, it's not unusual for organizations to receive donations from small-time entrepreneurs.
Officials from The Shade Tree, a women's shelter at 1560 N. Main St., said it has been fortunate to receive money from area businesses, both large and small. In fact, 67 percent of its budget is derived from the Las Vegas community.
"We encourage our women to be independent and self-sufficient," said Rebecca Morris, director of development. "We feel if we ask our clients to be independent and self-sufficient, then we have an obligation to be that way, too."
The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, 4800 S. Maryland Parkway, is another organization that relies on donations to help teens living life on their own.
"It's not often we even see a small business owner integrate a charitable giving program into their business plan," said Kathleen Boutin, executive director. "So, hearing about these people (the Roenfeldts), I have a lot of respect for them. They are heroes."
Boutin said most of her organization's budget comes from donations from major companies, casinos and financial institutions. One such local company, Best Water Truck Service, is a standout. The company contracts to clean up after circuses and other special events.
Instead of being paid monetarily, it asks for free tickets to those events, then donates those tickets to the homeless youths.
"Giving extends to that level," Boutin said. "They extend their service for free tickets, so a homeless kid can go to a show."
If the Wall Scapes takes off as the Roenfeldts suspect it will, they plan to franchise their idea with the caveat that future operators must contribute a percentage of their profits to a homeless shelter in their own area.
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