Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska

A History of RiteCare

Learn more about our RiteCare Clinicians, upcoming events around Nebraska, and how you can support RiteCare Speech therapy at https://www.RiteCareNE.org.

The Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska was established in 1974 to coordinate statewide Scottish Rite efforts to support speech therapy services. The Scottish Rite’s first support for speech therapy began with a $2,000 grant to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to fund therapy services for one child in 1976.

Pleased with the results, Scottish Rite Masons expanded their support, adding programs in Hastings and Omaha. By August, 1977, 20 children had been referred for help through the Scottish Rite partnership. State District Judge Herbert A. Ronin, 33°, head of the Nebraska Scottish Rite Masons at the time, reported that the Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska would grant at least $48,000 in 1977-1978 for Lincoln and Hastings therapy services, with an additional $25,000 at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute, then known as the Meyer Childrens’ Rehabilitation Institute.

The Scottish Rite has now partnered with the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute for close to 40 years, with 10 Speech-Language Pathologists serving children across the state.

Developing a Unified Brand

As a national philanthropy of the Scottish Rite’s Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, speech clinics were founded across the nation, with each state adopting services as local needs and resources dictated. States developed their own logos and brands under the name Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Clinic. While this had the advantage of bonding members to their local institutions, the multiplicity of names and images lessened the general publics’ awareness of the Scottish Rite’s primary philanthropy, and the term “disorders” was deemed to give a negative connotation. In early 2001, Grand Commander Fred C. Kleinknecht, 33° created a competition with a prize of $20,000 for a new name and an additional $20,000 for a new image.

From the hundreds of entries submitted, the committee made four selections for the recommended name and image. After considerable discussion, the Supreme Council voted to unanimously recommend the adoption of RiteCare as the new name and a sunrise design as the new image. The Orient of Virginia won the $20,000 for the RiteCare name, followed by the tagline Scottish Rite Masons Helping Children Communicate. The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children won the $20,000 for designing the winning image.

A New Era for Nebraska RiteCare

In 2012, the Nebraska Scottish Rite forged a new partnership with the University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Communications Disorders to provide speech therapy to children in Kearney, central Nebraska, and across the state. UNK was among the first to pioneer speech therapy services via teletherapy, serving kids as far away as Nebraska Panhandle simply using a laptop, PC, or even a handheld tablet or iPad. No longer would families have to physically travel up to hundreds of miles from the family farm or ranch to receive much-needed services.

In 2017, Karoly Mirnics, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director for the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute approached the Scottish Rite with “an offer we couldn’t refuse.” If the Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska would continue to fund services for the year, MMI would support speech therapy services from other sources of revenue. The Scottish Rite’s contributions would go toward an endowed Professorship in Speech-Language Pathology at UNMC. We were proud to welcome Dr. Amy Nordness, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, our statewide director of RiteCare as well as the Department of Speech-Language Pathology Chair, as our first Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska Professor. With her promotion to Director of Clinical Services at MMI, Scottish Rite Masons are proud to welcome Dr. Jessica Gormley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP as our second Scottish Rite Professor as well as Interim Director of the Speech-Language Pathology and Nebraska RiteCare program.

Beginning in 2021, Charles V. Sederstrom, Jr., 33°, SGIG for the Nebraska Scottish Rite, envisioned a program to both expand services as well as to create the fiscal resources that would fund services for the long-term. Followed by Dan Wellendorf, 33°, the Nebraska Scottish Rite launched an ambitious fundraising program to raise $7 million dollars, which would build new state-of-the-art clinic space on the Lincoln Scottish Rite building, expand clinic space in Hastings, and raise endowment funds to continue providing services well into the future.

Looking to the Future

Nebraska Scottish Rite Masons are proud of this long relationship with the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute and the University of Nebraska at Kearney Communications Disorders Department. We are confident that the resources will be available to support therapy and services well into the future.

In 2024, hosted the national RiteCare Conference, providing continuing education on the latest therapy techniques to SLPs from across the nation. Scottish Rite Masons donated $50,000 toward an endowed fund named in honor of RiteCare Clinician Paul Laikko, which will underwrite continuing education for speech pathologists for years and years to come. Education was dear to Paul Laikko, and the Scottish Rite is proud to honor his memory through this fund.

If you would like to help support the charities listed above you can call 402-342-1300.