Letitia Hanke Tells Her Amazing Story: Founding The LIME Foundation and Alternative Roofing Solutions!
On September 3, 2026, Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary’s guest speaker, Letitia Hanke, gave a powerful and moving talk about her personal and business history and how they contribute to her business success and her interest in helping young people acquire the tools for success in construction-related trades. The LIME Foundation, which she founded in 2015, is a non-profit dedicated to empowering our community by building the next generation of our workforce, advancing the arts, and helping educate seniors. She is also the founder and CEO of Alternative Roofing Solutions (ARS Roofing & Gutters).
As a child Letitia constantly dealt with hatred, racism, and bullying. She was called everything you can imagine and was told she’d never amount to anything. She felt ashamed, lonely, ugly, and invisible. Seeing her loneliness, her Lake County school’s music teacher brought her into the music classroom and taught her to play the trumpet during lunchtime sessions. By age 8 she was playing in the high school band! Her high school bandmates stuck up for her, and helped her learn hope, confidence, and determination. She attended Sonoma State University to study music (she wanted to become a rock star), but she was “super broke” and had to get a job. She was hired as a receptionist for a roofing company and after a year became the office manager and left college. After a few years learning the roofing business she obtained her contractor’s license and started her own company, ARS. As a black woman in a predominantly white, male industry, Leticia had to prove herself constantly. For the first few years she tried to hide herself; she called herself L.R. Hanke and didn’t put her picture on anything. About 10 years ago she decided to rebrand the company; she put her face on everything and signed her own name. Her business took off when she began working with people who wanted to support minority and woman-owned businesses. As the company grew she decided that she had an opportunity to give back to the community and started the LIME Foundation.
The Foundation has several programs, including the Senior Program, Turner Arts Initiative, and the biggest program, Next Gen Trades Academy. This is an outgrowth of conversations she regularly had with her contractor buddies who frequently complained that they couldn’t find young people to come into the trades. She asked them whether if she started a program to train young people they would mentor or hire them. They all said “yes,” so she started the program. LIME introduces high school students to the trades and teaches them financial literacy, real estate, health and wellness, and interview skills. The students learn up to 27 trades, including solar, HVAC, and clean energy. Next Gen is a free, 3-week program. When the students graduate they pick an industry to go into. The students get $600 for tools so they can start their careers without that expense when they finish the program. LIME works with 298 contractors in 5 counties to help get jobs for these students. LIME has had a lot of success in Lake County and even received a million dollar grant for that program! LIME is currently working with 43 high schools. Funding for the program comes through grant programs, the County, Sonoma Clean Power, and individual donors. The Foundation works with 11 different non-profits, including Habitat for Humanity. It also works with juvenile probation departments in Marin and Sonoma Counties and has had great success with those students. They’ve just received a very large grant from a probation department for the next 3 years. This year Next Gen had 144 graduates. One of Letitia’s favorite parts of the program is when past graduates become established in a trade and come back to hire new graduates!
The Senior Program consists of a 6-week wellness program, including nutrition education and gentle exercise. The program had to shut down during COVID, but LIME is hoping to restart it soon. Turner Arts grew out of her love of music. The program originally consisted of an after-school and summer program but it closed temporarily because of COVID, although it still has the scholarship programs in which it honors a student annually for music or creative achievements. LIME also has its talent show called “So You Think Sonoma County’s Got Talent With the Stars,” which will be held on October 30th at Sally Tomatoes.
Thank you so much, Letitia, for telling us your remarkable story and for all the wonderful things you’ve done to improve the lives of so many young people. You are a fantastic talent and your compelling story needs to be told everywhere!
