STOREFRONT
Looking at small businesses
NUMBERS
Vegucating Tulsa
A new start
An entrepreneur touts the healing power of food.
successful Family & Children’s Services program has doubled its footprint. Women in Recovery (WIR) is an intensive outpatient alternative for eligible women facing long-term prison sentences for nonviolent, drug-related offenses. The program operates in partnership with the George Kaiser Family Foundation. WIR’s new facility is located on the second floor of 1055 S. Houston Ave. and features offices and work spaces allowing the program to serve more than 100 women, 200 children and members of the WIR graduate community.
by MORGAN PHILLIPS
by JAMIE RICHERT JONES
T
Evan Taylor
here’s no deCulinary Institute, and nying Tulsa found there was a growhas had a reing interest in Tulsa. cent surge of health“In this part of the based grocery stores. country, you would From new stores like think it would be suThe Fresh Market and per challenging to run Sprouts Farmers Market a business like this, to perennial favorites but the desire is there,” such as Whole Foods Madeja says. “We are Market and Akin’s Natone of the fattest, sickural Foods, Tulsans are est states in the nation.” finally able to enjoy the Complementing her culinary variety of our other services, Madeja’s coastal counterparts. line of raw food is carried We have a little at Petty’s Fine Foods catching up to do, in Utica Square. Items though. Suddenly, include her Mock Tuna, words like sustainabilRed Pepper Cashew ity, GMOs and vegCheese, Onion Flatbread, an-friendly are entering Denise Madeja’s business, Raw Intentions, was born from Chocolate Pudding and our local lexicon. But Falafel Grab ‘n’ Go. Prices her own health problems that responded to raw foods. what does it all mean? range from $4.99-$12.49. Denise Madeja, owner of Raw Intentions, Madeja also organizes raw food-themed wants to answer those questions. Through indiparties in people’s homes. vidual coaching and group classes, she educates “A group of friends or family members get clients about the benefits of a plant-based diet. together to learn how to incorporate delicious “This is where my heart is,” she says. “The truth plant-based dishes into their diet,” she says. is, people can go to a restaurant and order vegShe says this is helpful for families dealing an; they could buy my raw food ... But when they with a particular ailment such as diabetes or go home and open their fridge, if they don’t have food allergies. Educating the entire family on the the ingredients or know how to make healthy healing power of food can develop an environmeals, it’s not sustainable. So, my goal is to make ment of support and success. this a sustainable lifestyle.” “Filling the body with nutrient-rich foods Madeja discovered the raw food lifestyle after allows the body to spend less time digesting her own health crisis. Years of stress and coping the food eaten and more time healing disease,” with major life events had taken their toll. She Madeja says. suffered from chronic insomnia, chronic sinus She stresses a plant-based lifestyle is not infections, depression, anxiety, migraines, eleabout rules. It’s about doing what works for you. vated glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure With that in mind, Madeja believes food is just issues, according to her website. one aspect of health. A friend suggested following a raw diet, so “In my classes, we talk about everything — in a desperate attempt to feel better, she gave colon cleansing, spiritual life, stressors, lack of it a try. sleep and many other factors that contribute to The change was so immediate and profound health,” she says. “We discuss everything because that she still remembers the date she started. it’s about a lifestyle. It’s not all about the food.” tþ “I changed my lifestyle five years ago, March 7, 2010,” Madeja says. Raw Intentions, 918-810-4502, She quickly enrolled in courses all over the denise@rawintentions.com, www.rawintentions.com country, including the renowned Living Light 18
TulsaPeople JUNE 2015
A
20,000
square feet: the size of the new facility. Its features include age-specific children’s spaces, therapy rooms, an industrial chef’s kitchen for teaching culinary and nutritional practices, a computer lab for education and employment development, a donation closet and conference rooms for WIR’s partner organizations.
64%
of the more than 2,800 women incarcerated in Oklahoma are imprisoned for nonviolent offenses that are primarily drug related. Oklahoma is ranked No. 1 for female incarceration per capita in the United States.
201
women and their 457 children comprise WIR’s graduate community. The program has operated since 2009.
896
children have been served by WIR — through child trauma therapy, school support, family reunification and other services. Approximately 5,000 Oklahoma children under 18 have a mother in prison.
100%
of WIR participants complete culinary classes in collaboration with Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology to prepare them for careers in the food service and hospitality industries. WIR also provides onsite GED classes and educational opportunities through Tulsa Community College. tþ