Sponsor Spotlight: Heide Martin and Sharla Olson with SENDCAA
Sponsor of Family Child Care Homes
May 4, 2026
Heide Martin and Sharla Olson are Nutrition Coordinators for the Southeast North Dakota Community Action Agency (SENDCAA). SENDCAA began sponsoring the CACFP in 1981 through a start-up grant from the USDA. Forty-five years later, SENDCAA continues to operate as a CACFP sponsor and serves 150 family child care homes that provide nutritious meals to about 1500 children.
Sharla joined SENDCAA 17 years ago, with a degree in Food and Nutrition and a background in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Sharla has always been interested in nutrition, so the transition from WIC to CACFP was a natural progression. Heide believes Sharla’s knowledge of nutrition is a big asset to their organization.
It was because of Sharla that Heide joined SENDCAA 12 years ago. With a degree in elementary education and early childhood development, Heide ran her own family child care home and operated the CACFP for three years. Sharla introduced Heide to the SENDCAA monitoring position during one of her monitoring visits, and Heide jumped at the opportunity. Heide’s background as a family home provider allows her to understand the perspective of the providers they serve.
Their connection to their providers is one of the reasons Sharla and Heide believe SENDCAA is so successful as a sponsor. They try to make themselves available to their providers as much as possible and have constant, clear communication. They build their relationships from an equal footing and position themselves as partners rather than as authority figures.
“We try to come in as an equal and not try to be the Sheriff. We want them to know we’re here to help and we’re here to give technical assistance. We know this is their home and we know we’re coming in at the most chaotic time of the day. So, we try to see it from their side as well,” says Heide.
Through the nature of the job, Heide and Sharla recognize that they are entering the personal homes of their providers and they provide the respect necessary when in someone’s home. Sharla notes that through their monitoring visits, they have not only been able to see providers grow professionally, but they’ve seen their personal and family lives evolve as well.
“It’s been 17 years I’ve been doing this and I have providers that I’ve been visiting the whole time. So, you start to develop relationships with them. You get to know their families and their children and their husbands and see them go through pregnancies and watch their kids grow up. It was hard in the beginning, going into somebody’s home, trying to tell them ways they need to change. Being with the program long enough, you just learn ways of critiquing in a supportive way and showing that we care. Communicating that the main point of everything is making sure the kids are eating nutritious foods,” says Sharla.
Visiting family homes is the highlight of the day for Heide and Sharla. They enjoy getting to interact with the providers and hear about their achievements, like getting children to try new food. They also love to interact with the kids and hear about what new fruits and vegetables they’ve tried and now enjoy. These interactions are what keep both Heide and Sharla motivated to continue working in the CACFP.
They also recognize the important role that the CACFP plays for providers, children and families.
“The benefit for the children is getting to have all the components in front of them three times a day, at least, and probably more than they’re getting at home. Everything we’ve read is that the earlier you start exposing kids to healthy foods, the more likely they are to expand their palate as adults. Also, for the parents, it’s great to know that they don’t have to pack a lunch every day and that their children are going to be fed a well-rounded meal. I’ve had a lot of providers who have changed their own habits for their own household. It’s helped them build their own home menus outside of the day care,” says Heide.
For all these reasons, Heide and Sharla remain devoted to supporting providers in being successful with the CACFP. They offer free online training and resources for their providers that can go towards their licensing professional development hours. They also provide nutrition education three times a year and are excited to gift serving spoons to all their providers this time around. Along with the serving spoons, they’re also sending resources on portion sizes and family-style dining for the providers and the families they serve.
The team at SENDCAA is passionate about the CACFP and is excited to continue working within the program and providing access to all family home providers who are interested in participating.
As they watch each other taste new foods, the children are more inclined to do the same. They help with meal times and in food preparation as they are developmentally ready. Even nutrition education can come organically. Like in Linda's home, it does not have to be a formal process.
In Eastern North Dakota, Sharla has been with SENDCAA for 17 years and Heide for 12 years.