Halloween is around the corner and that means kids of every age will be out repping their best costumes. This week we welcome Waves Early Learning Director Gina Wilson and Waves Early Interventionist Jen Choate to help you prep your child for the experience! With host Trent and co-host Christy Webb, the group started off by sharing their own experience with Halloween. Gina and Jen remember prepping their kids when they were younger for talking with strangers, getting candy, and exploring the neighborhood! We hear Christy share her plans for Halloween after she finishes her shift at Goodwill, and also …

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WOA has two celebrations to cover in this week’s episode, with Waves’ very own Matt “The Man” Moore celebrating his 34th birthday and Backlight Productions celebrating 10 years! The Executive Director of Backlight Productions, Melissa Smith, joins us and shares how Backlight has been offering opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to engage with the performing arts for 10 years now. This year they’re putting on their biggest production yet, “Cinderella”, with over 100 individuals performing and only half the time they usually have to put the show together. Matt talks about his own work on Cinderella as …

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This week WOA is providing you with the most brazen episode yet. Our host Trent welcomes coach Jason Jones to the table along with a few Williamson County Special Olympics Athletes- Norris Peterson, Eric Wilson, and Matthew Drumright. Waves provide various type of services to both Nooris and Eric and have had the pleasure of meeting Matt through their friendship. To add some more fun to the conversation, we have parent John Wilson on the mic. Listen to the group share their experience being a team that motivates each other as much as they tease each other. Jason stumbled into …

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If you’ve ever been overwhelmed with the idea of volunteering and figuring out how to get connected, this week WOA sheds some light on the topic! Special guests from the Workman Group, Eric and Katie Workman, share their perspectives on volunteering and why it’s so important to the community. Eric and Katie are excellent examples of committing to helping their community, having volunteered with Waves in the past and continuing to set aside time for Waves. We also welcome John Lynch, aka Johnny Sunshine, onto the podcast to share what volunteering means to him. Eric and Katie have personally volunteered …

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And just like that, Waves of Awareness is back with Season 6! WOA couldn’t be more excited to welcome you back and kick things off right with one of our partners at the Williamson County Animal Center, Molly Darr. Molly leads the Pawsabilities Program at WCAC, which partners volunteers with special needs with a mentor for 1:1 interactions with the pets at WCAC. Waves has been honored to partner with WCAC for Pawsabilities and create the training that spreads awareness to mentors partnering with volunteers with special needs. Molly was able to combine her three passions, teaching, animals, and volunteer …

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This week on WOA we have the unique pleasure of bringing together Hippie Radio 94.5 Whit Hubner and Hannah Rose, who is a part of Waves Fairview Day Program. Hannah has a personal goal of being on the radio one day and what better way to facilitate that goal than to connect her with a radio expert? Whit and Hannah are welcomed by your host Trent Denson and co-host Matt Moore to explore what it looks like to get involved with the radio and the various joys that come with it. Whit shares his journey to radio, having started in …

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Season Five has arrived! Welcome back to Waves of Awareness, your favorite Wednesday podcast. Our first episode of the season features Matt, Beth, and Christy as they kick things off with their summer plans. Matt shares details on his summer musical debut, Beth lets us in on her travel plans, and Christy inspires us all with her amazing work ethic. The WOA crew is excited to announce a few major Waves, Inc. events coming up this year with its 50th Anniversary celebration. Join us in listening as the team gives a sneak peek to what Season Five will bring you! …

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For the final episode of the season, WOA switches modes and becomes the movie review source you didn’t know you needed. We have folks from the Fairview Day Program, Jimmy Parnell and Hannah Rose, come down to join hosts Matt Moore and Trent Denson. In addition, Waves Early Learning Program Director Regina Wilson and her son Eric Wilson, who is a part of the Waves Employment Program, join the episode. Everyone sits down and reviews the movie Champions, starring Woody Harrelson. Champions released this year and tells the story of a former minor-league basketball coach who is assigned a court …

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You’ve heard him mentioned, you’ve seen him on our social media (@waves_serves), and now you can hear his story. This week we welcome Mark Israel (aka Izzy) on Waves of Awareness! Izzy recently joined the Employment and Community First (ECF) program with Waves and has already made a huge impact. In this episode we have our hosts, Trent Denson, Matt Moore, and Marci Cohen join the conversation and chat with Izzy about what led him to this career path. Izzy wasn’t always working in this field, he used to be a part of the music industry- on the road and …

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As if WOA couldn’t be lucky with even more influential guests, this week we welcome one of our Tennessee State Representative’s, Sam Whitson onto the show. Whitson joins the table with Matt Moore, Christy Webb, and Lance Jordan to speak on his history and current journey as State Representative. Matt and Christy take the lead in asking Whitson questions covering his past jobs and what he loves about his position now. Having served in the army for 26 years prior to his role as State Representative, Whitson is passionate about the importance of serving your community and doing everything in …

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