A Little Help for a Big World


By: Janna Mock-Lopez

Amy Roloff, 46, is a busy gal; she’s the mother of four active teenagers, an occasional soccer coach, the caretaker of a 33-acre farm in Hillsboro, a community volunteer, and recently the self-appointed leader of a foundation bearing her name. And oh, there’s the national TV gig — the second half of the fifth season of the reality show about Amy and her family, Little People, Big World, began in April. Imagine living a hectic life encompassing kids, career, and community, all with a video crew following you around every day for months at a time.

For Amy, a little person whose dwarfism was caused by a genetic condition called achondroplasia, such intense personal exposure serves a much greater purpose: to deliver a message of “why not?” instead of “I can’t” to everyone, but especially to those who have a disability and face their own challenges.

A tremendous amount of this inspiration is communicated to hundreds of thousands of viewers each month via Little People, Big World — and through appearances in over 40 television shows and publications, including People magazine, The New York Times, The View, The Oprah Show, Today, and Good Morning America. However, Amy also takes a more hands-on approach of empowering others through the work of her foundation.

The Amy Roloff Charity Foundation was created in 2009 to raise funds for the Dwarf Athletic Association of America (DAAA) and other local Portland charities, including Bridge Meadows, Human Solutions, Saint Child Maternity Home, Edwards Center, and Shriner’s Hospital. Her foundation holds annual events, raising funds that are then distributed to the affiliated nonprofits.

Each organization assists children and families here in Oregon in ways close to Amy’s heart: Bridge Meadows develops and sustains intergenerational neighborhoods for families with foster children; Human Solutions helps homeless families achieve permanent housing stability and income self-sufficiency; Saint Child Maternity Home provides life, purpose, and direction to young mothers while they make plans for themselves and their unborn child’s life; Edwards Center promotes independence and quality of life for developmentally disabled adults in Washington and Clackamas counties; Shriner’s Hospital offers specialty pediatric care for children up to age 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, and spinal cord injuries — all with no financial obligation to their families.

Creating a presence of meaning, purpose and vision has always been in the forefront of Amy’s life. She credits her strong faith and ability to remain grounded as key elements for the high energy required for serving the community.

J: Before television, in public, you might have been stared at for being different. Now, what’s it like to go out and have people recognize you and stare, because you’ve been on TV?

A: It’s been a 180-degree turnaround. Before TV came along, I pretty much kept to myself. I’m a reserved person. I’d go out into public and put a game face on, so to speak. At home, I’d let loose. Once I left my home, there was a certain image I had to portray to break down whatever perceptions people may have because I’m a little person with dwarfism. Whatever people thought, it would be like, “I don’t know anything about that. I’ll just walk away….” I knew people were looking at me. I just never knew what they were thinking.

People didn’t readily come up and ask, “Hey, how’re you doing?” If I went to an event, chances were they were people I already associated with. But random people never came up to introduce themselves. So this is definitely a 180-degree turnaround. I was very cautious, very guarded. Now that TV has come along, it’s allowed me to break down some of my own personal barriers, which probably have to do with protecting myself or doing my best to convince others that though I may look different, I’m really not different than anybody else.

J: Do you have to prove all the time that you’re not different?

A: The TV show has been a huge family opportunity to make others aware about this disability family that happens to have dwarfism. We may be different, but that difference diminishes quickly once people get into the show. It’s like, “Oh my gosh, there are more similarities than there are differences. So the dad walks on crutches and rides a scooter. The mom’s a go-getter always trying to over-prove herself. The kids seem pretty normal.” For us, it was a huge opportunity. Not only as a mom, trying to incorporate this big event, but trying to keep our life going.

J: Can you imagine a mother who’s always in the public eye, say, Michelle Obama? How does she do it? How do you keep your kids grounded?

A: From the outside and what I’ve seen of her, she’s a very strong woman. She had certain determinations and objectives long before getting into the White House. Her husband, President Obama, has been in the political limelight for a while, whether it be locally as a senator or nationally. She had the steps building up to this major event but that didn’t necessarily prepare her for having her kids in the White House or for being part of history.

In regard to being in the spotlight, I’ve brought circumstances down to “what are my kids’ main job?” Their main job is education. TV always came second. I wanted them to understand that what they need to do in their lives is always first priority. TV follows us, we do not follow TV. I work hard at that. Getting lost in the media limelight is easy. We’ve seen how TV can affect an ordinary family that’s suddenly plunged into this world. If you don’t constantly remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing for whatever reason it may be, even being on TV such as we are, you can get lost.

J: Did you have discussion or agreement with your family beforehand about what the intentions were and what you hoped to get out of the experience?

A: The first couple of years, we weren’t even sure what we were doing. We definitely didn’t think we’d be in our fifth season with over 200 episodes. We thought, “OK, a year. Major event and total inconvenience. Cameramen and all these people in our house and on our property. Perhaps we can tolerate a year.” Well that first year turned out to be halfway decent, so we wondered, “Do we want to do this for another year?” We decided to move forward on a yearly basis. We asked ourselves and each other, “How is the family being affected? How are the kids doing with their friends and our community?”

I always contend that this major event will eventually leave our lives. We’ll still be here. We’re still in the community. We still go to church or visit the grocery store. We work or attend social functions or sports activities. Our lives need to continue within the community, and that’s why it was important to me as a mom to do my best to try to keep my kids grounded and remind them that although we have this opportunity of educating and exposing people to differences, you are who you are, no better and no worse than anybody else.

J: Have you seen differences in your kids or even yourself since TV?

A: I think my youngest son has probably been the most affected by a lot of the differences in his life compared to his siblings. We go out in public and my hope is that the perception people have of us little people, people with dwarfism, or me as an individual has changed. I’ve even changed my perception of what I can do for others.

J: That’s so great!

A: I told my producer, if we’re out there and I get some sort of attitude about being on TV, you’ve got to let me know. I don’t care what episode we’re doing. Keep me in check. Help me to keep myself in check because then you’re always reminded of the fact about why you’re doing it, be appreciative of the opportunity and never think that I’m any better or deserve certain privileges just because I happen to be who I am now.

One of those opportunities was to start up my own charity foundation, which really came by as a fluke. I thought, “Here I am, ‘celebrity,’ and I want to help this organization that’s meant a lot to me for the past 20–25 years. What can I do?” I’m known to be sports-oriented, and I connected to Dwarf Athletic Association of America. I wanted to do an event to raise money to sustain them or help out in what little way I could, so I thought, “Why not put on a golf and dinner event?” I thought my efforts could fall under someone else’s nonprofit status. But lo and behold, that didn’t work.

I wondered, “What do I do now? I’ve got to be nonprofit.” So they said, “Why don’t you start your own?” I was like, “Start up my own?” So, it happened really quickly! It was recommended by someone I talked to that because of the website and social media, I should name it after [myself] because of the notoriety and people’s recognition. I worried that people would think I’m the typical celebrity. “Yeah, she’s gotta have her name on a charity and all this other stuff.” But I keep reminding people, yes, it may be the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation, but this is why and this is what it stands for.

J: This is who you are.

A: This is who I am. So that’s what we did.

J: It’s been about a year and a half?

A: Yes, it’s been about a year and a half. Early 2009. We put on a major golf event and dinner. I’ve put on other events before, but nothing of this significance or as a fundraising event. I was sweatin’ it for a little bit.

J: But in a good way . . .

A: In a good way. We have a good core board membership. Small still because I want to find who shares my same passion, who sees what it means to be on a nonprofit board.

J: It’s critical to have a sense of the commitment that’s involved when you get onto a board. Determine where your passion is, and you’ve got to find a place where it makes sense. If being on a board is part of it, then be clear about what the mission is and what it’s going to require of you.

A: I agree. I don’t think of myself much, so it’s kind of hard for me to think my name has much significance or power, but I would hope for a while it does, so helping other nonprofits do better at their fundraising is important to me. In regard to my mission for the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation, we focus on kids, single parenting, disability groups, and youth at risk. Obviously that’s vast. But it leaves our foundation open to support vast efforts we feel are doing great work in the community.

For instance, single parenting. Regardless of what happens to a pregnant teenager or young woman, she has a choice. Does she keep it? Does she give it up for adoption? Or does she make the other choice, depending upon what her situation is. If she decides to give it up for adoption, or support it, she will need a place to give her that support and help her move onto whatever that decision is. And disability groups: There are tons of disability groups and I don’t want people to assume that I’m only supporting dwarfism.

J: Since you’re known nationally, how do you determine your local versus national giving of time and dollars?

A: It’s hard to determine how much to support locally, but the bigger percentage of the work our foundation does will support local because this is my community. This is where my kids are. These are the people I interact with. There are opportunities to give back to some of the smaller organizations that maybe people don’t know about. They may help in a smaller area, but without these particular community groups, maybe it would be detrimental and hurt that particular area.

J: It’s exciting to be part of something knowing the story or the outcome of the person where you’ve had direct impact.

A: Sometimes people forget about the littler nonprofits or don’t think their time or what little they give is significant enough, so they don’t. When I do speaking engagements, whether it be for the charity or for my own business, I convey that a little help goes far. A little help for a big world. Why do you give? Is it to feel good or to help someone? My dad always said, “Give without expecting anything in return. Give because you can, you should, and that’s what you do.”

J: It sounds like if the TV thing ended tomorrow, you’d still be doing what you do. You’d still be giving.

A: I would. It’d be a whole lot harder. [laughter] I’ve learned a lot about myself through the TV. I’ve learned a lot from the charity foundation. No matter what’s going on in your life, go out and help. Go to a nonprofit or an event and learn about other people’s stories. It doesn’t diminish what’s going on in your own life, but there are people who have a whole lot more going on and they’re moving forward. They’re surviving; they’re still taking that step, one foot in front of the other.

J: So inspiring.

A: They’re doing the best that they can. How are the people in your own community making a difference? Who’s your hero? I’d love to figure out who people’s heroes are in their lives. Sometimes it’s a grandparent, a neighbor, a co-worker, or maybe a complete stranger who helped someone during a particular time. No matter what’s going on in our economy or life there’s a lot of good happening. You just don’t see it because it doesn’t make the news. I think we’re too much into that “gotcha” type of thing on the news.

J: How is giving instilled to today’s kids? Great nonprofits have used social media to instill the notion of giving, since that’s where many young people connect. Others believe that no matter what you do online, giving starts in the family. Do you teach your kids about giving on a relationship level, via the language they speak —technology — or both?

A: I think instilling the notion of giving and serving starts within our own family. There are three phases of giving: learning, building, then serving. I’m at the point where I say, “Kids, you’re old enough now. This is what your mom’s doing. I’d like you to be onboard. This is why.” I have a Christian faith–based belief. The first part of teaching kids about giving was through the church. Volunteer time or participate in activities in order to raise money to give to a mission or local homeless shelter. That definitely was their first thing.

Being a little person and reaching out to certain groups has always been intimidating for me. For instance, serving dinners to the homeless or something like that. I know I’m not going to be able to do much work in this setting because everything is up high. I’m not physically able to serve. I set parameters up front so my kids can learn by the example of what I am able to do.

J: Of your children, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob are of average height. One of your sons, Zach, is a little person. Do you make specific concessions based on your individual child’s abilities?

A: I did when they were younger. Now that my kids are older, they can better understand that this is what your mom’s going to do and this is what they’re going to do. For example, we took a trip down South and helped Habitat for Humanity after Hurricane Katrina. I thought, “What activity am I going to do? This is a construction zone. I’m sure they have certain safety rules.” I’ll do as much as I can for Zachary, who was 18 at the time. I want to give him a sense that he was there with a purpose and that he’s able to do certain things. My average-sized son Jeremy can do anything underneath the sun.

Because being a little person has been my way of life, I go into volunteer situations wanting to know at least the basics of what I’m getting into, so if I can’t do something at least the people in need of assistance will understand why.

Jeremy put on a whole roof of a house! He worked with the main supervisor. He was so proud of himself, because he was determined before we left, he’d complete the job. Zachary was determined to help me put in all the windows, at least those on the lower end. I had to climb a ladder and pound all this stuff. Being a little person, it’s not like I could climb halfway and I could reach. I had to climb all the way to the top of this tall ladder. It was like, “OK, if I wriggle too much here, what’s going to happen?” But I also wanted to make sure that my youngest were at least getting something meaningful out of the experience.

J: Leading by example has been important for you as a mom.

A: Yes. Even before TV, certain opportunities came up that I took advantage of to help instill in my kids that we’re very blessed. My biggest teaching lesson and greatest gift is being a little person and having dwarfism. I don’t know what it is to be average height, but I know I wouldn’t be here right now if all these other things in the past didn’t bring me to this moment. There are challenges. Everyone has them.

Through the charity foundation, we have an opportunity. I’m working with Royal Caribbean for a cruise. A percentage of the reservation proceeds that go through my website will come back to the charity. One of the ports of call is Haiti. With the devastation that happened there’s some small little positive imprint we can do in the eight hours we’re there. My foundation’s not the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. They have years of experience and do wonderful work but that doesn’t mean that even my charity foundation, as young as it is, can’t make its small imprints.

We’re going to help at some of the orphanages there. Though I’d like to think I’m popular enough to show up in Haiti and say, “Here I am!” but we’re working through another nonprofit to help the process of bringing in items so they get to the orphanages and to the kids in need. A couple of my own kids are coming on the cruise. I want my kids to have compassion that the people of Haiti are going to be in the situation they’re in for a long time. We’re just making a small little imprint. It may not be big, but if it affects one kid’s life over there, at least for the moment, I’m happy.