Beginning in August 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska, Jewel Rodgers launched the Urban Lumber Initiative, a community-rooted effort to reclaim and repurpose locally sourced timber that was otherwise discarded and sold by municipalities—transforming what she saw as unintended wealth extraction into community assets. Noticing the decay in affordable housing, lack of seating, and absence of basic infrastructure like trash or recycling bins, she galvanized neighbors through door‑knocking, petitioning, and secured funding to harvest urban trees for use in bus shelters, public benches, and donated materials for makers, woodworkers, and homeowners. Collaborating with local partners—including BVH Architects (for a kiln build-out), StarCity Wood, Trees2Products, Nebraska Forest Service, Forgamere, Lincoln East High School, and Lincoln Parks & Recreation—she oversaw the full range of processes from drying and milling to final construction. A Maker Fair and milling demonstration drew over 80 attendees, becoming the initiative’s most successful outreach event. Though she stepped back to pursue graduate studies, the project lives on under the leadership of Shawn Ryba, the executive director of the South of Downtown Organization.