Thank You Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust!

Thank You Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust!

Our conductors have often joked that our buildings are “TOO HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE”! Initially, that sounded like an oxymoron. We serve individuals with disabilities. How in the world could our facilities be “too accessible”?

We encounter steps and uneven surfaces everywhere… at home, at work, at church, while shopping or attending sporting events. How were we to help kids and adults with neuromotor disabilities navigate stairways, curbs, even climbing into transportation when everything around them was so flat? We are so grateful to the Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust for providing the solution!

We were granted a dynamic stair and incline trainer for both our Wauseon and Springfield campuses! These amazing therapy devices incorporate stairs, incline, and parallel bars in one apparatus for our conductors to use with both our students and adult clients. One side has stairs and the other side has an inclined ramp that can be adjusted to meet the needs of the user.

Thank you so much Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust for your support of our mission and the students and clients we serve!

NHA Students Provide Love in a Box

NHA Students Provide Love in a Box

Every Wednesday, a few students from New Horizons Academy have been brewing and hand delivering boxes of coffee purchased from Special Grounds Coffee to local businesses. This will give our students the opportunity to get out into the community and assist them in developing stronger communication and vocational skills and also providing some great coffee for these businesses to enjoy.

Our first day of this new program was on September 27th. Eli and Josiah were the first 2 students to assist in helping brew and deliver coffee to Hothules & Associates and Riley Tractor Parts. 

The students have enjoyed going out and blessing additional businesses and organizations each week and learning more about what they do; such as Haas Door, the Wauseon Fire Department, Pettisville Grain, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Rupp Seeds, Ace Hardware and Grieser Transportation.

We will continue to brew and deliver coffee out to businesses each Wednesday throughout the school year. Thank you everyone for your continued support to our students and school.

NHS Playground is Complete!

NHS Playground is Complete!

It’s time to play! The students at our Springfield campus now have a safe, outdoor space to play! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this project a reality. We are so grateful to all the foundations, organizations, businesses and individuals who donated and took part in the fundraising events that made this all possible.

The kiddos at NHS have loved having a beautiful green space with amazing playground equipment to use at school. It is also a great space for teachers to take their students out and have activities on the enclosed grass surface.

We now have a playground where children of all types of abilities can play together; one that addresses the needs of typically developing children as well as children with neurological, intellectual and physical disabilities. We are so thankful to finally have an inclusive playground that accommodates all children and challenges each of them at their own developmental levels.

2023 NHA Christmas Musical

2023 NHA Christmas Musical

Grab your ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots, and hustle on down to Pettisville Missionary Church on December 12, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. for a foot-stompin’ holiday hoedown!

This year, New Horizons Academy (NHA) will be putting on a fun, toe-tapping, country spectacular for its Christmas Musical.

NHA’s preschool to high school students, along with Music Teacher Melissa Valentine, will be putting on a Christmas Musical that no one will forget!

Be sure to save the date, and mark your calendars so you don’t miss NHA’s Holiday Country Hoedown.

Event Date:Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Event Location:Pettisville Missionary Church, Pettisville, Ohio
Event Time:6:30 p.m.
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You’re not going to want to miss this memorable holiday event!

If you have any questions or need any additional information, please call the school office at 419-335-7272 or contact NHA Music Teacher Melissa Valentine.

HBOT Helps Restore Dreams and Plans

HBOT Helps Restore Dreams and Plans

Woody Allen once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” Tony had been involved in ministry off and on for many years. He developed a passion for church planting and dreamed of planting a new church when he finished his residency.

Unfortunately, his plans hit a severe and sudden wall (or in this case truck) in early 2022. On Valentine’s Day, Tony was driving back from visiting his mother at a nursing home in Whitehouse. Doctors believe he had an allergic reaction and passed out, causing his vehicle to drift left of center striking a semi-truck head on. The impact was so intense that he broke the truck’s axle. The semi delivered an even more horrific blow to Tony. Tony’s car was so severely crushed that it was virtually unrecognizable. Tony ended up damaging his eyes and ears, breaking his foot, lower back, most of the ribs on his left side and suffered a collapsed lung. It was truly a miracle that he survived.

Following his accident, Tony underwent countless surgeries in hopes of repairing the damage to his body. Despite the doctors’ best efforts through these surgeries, Tony was still plagued with constant migraines, back aches and body pain. He struggled with getting a good night’s sleep and experienced concerning depression. Tony’s massage therapist told him that his body was so hard that it felt like concrete. He eventually exhausted his physical therapy sessions through insurance after not showing adequate progress. Tony was not able to work for over a year due to the struggles and setbacks he experienced throughout his recovery process.

Chiropractic, physical, and massage therapy were able to relieve some physical tension but couldn’t address the constant pain, and migraines Tony was living with. Unfortunately, the only plausible treatments and relief doctors were able to offer came through the endless barrage of different medications. However, these drugs eventually began to take a toll on him physically and he knew something had to change.

Tony’s pastor had originally mentioned Sara’s Garden to him shortly after the accident. At the time, he didn’t understand how HBOT could help his situation and he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to try and learn. It wasn’t until months later, when he became concerned with the path all of the medications were taking him down, that he started to look into Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy more diligently.

He was surprised and encouraged to learn how HBOT had been successful in treating traumatic brain injuries. Research showed that many military troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning home with TBI and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the past few years there have been numerous Defense Department-led studies looking at the effects of HBOT on troops with TBI. HBOT is an effective and economical treatment for TBI and PTSD, without the very dangerous and negative side effects of antipsychotic medication. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has also been shown to improve client’s fine and gross motor skills, speech, thinking (cognition), memory and physical healing.

For Tony, HBOT provided immediate feedback as to its effectiveness. Tony experienced significate relief within the first 45 minutes of his initial session. He stated, “I noticed the constant ‘thudding’ in my head went away. For the first time in a long time, there was clarity in my thinking.’

Since completing treatments, Tony is overjoyed to report that the migraines which had plagued him for so long have finally gone away. He has noticed more flexibility with his back and felt there was finally a shift in his body’s healing. People have commented that he looks so much better and seems to have better control of his body movements and surety in his gait.

Tony has expressed, “I feel great and am so thankful for these treatments. My bones are healed, my migraines have dissipated, and my back is loosening up. Everyone at Sara’s Garden was so helpful and friendly. I cannot begin to tell you how much this process has meant to me. I grow stronger every day and have much better mental clarity.”

Thanks to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Sara’s Garden, Tony was once again able to turn his focus to the plans and dreams he had before his accident. He has started seeking work and by the grace of God, has started a new church plant endeavor in central Ohio.

No matter what you’ve been told, there is hope… for this and many other conditions. HBOT is treatment without drugs… without surgery… without pain.

Mobile Opportunities on the Horizon

Mobile Opportunities on the Horizon

Back in February, we thanked the Zeisloft Family Trust for their unbelievable support of our organization and teased about an exciting upcoming project at our Special Grounds vocational training center.

Well, the cat (or truck) is out of the bag and we can finally share that we were awarded a brand new coffee truck! This amazing vehicle was custom fabricated for us from the ground up over in Elkhart, Indiana. We duplicated every piece of equipment from the cafe into the truck, making it easier for staff to train and support our students.

This mobile vocational center will expand our current capability out into Northwest Ohio to reach additional special needs students, specifically the students at our Springfield campus and partner schools. It will allow us to further educate the surrounding communities about the vocational needs of young adults with disabilities and promote the awareness that every community can and should support all of its students and community members. 

We are so thankful and grateful to the Zeisloft Family Trust for establishing a lasting legacy of vocational, recreational, and therapeutic skill development for special needs children and youth through Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy and Special Grounds Coffee Co.! Thank you, Zeisloft Family Trust, for making the future brighter for children and young adults with disabilities!

2023 Wheel of Purses Recap

2023 Wheel of Purses Recap

Thank you so much to everyone who came out and supported this year’s Wheel of Purses event! We had such a great evening spending time with all of you.

Thank you so much to all of our amazing sponsors who made this such a memorable event. We would also like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for helping to make this event possible. 

The complete photo gallery from the 2023 Wheel of Purses can be found on our Facebook page by clicking HERE.

We can’t wait to see you all again next year!

Title Sponsors:

  • Anderzack Pitzen Construction, Inc.
  • Andres O’Neil & Lowe
  • Riley Tractor Parts

Event Sponsors:

  • Everence
  • Silent Sponsor

Purse Sponsors:

  • Defiance Meijer Store #189
  • Winzeler & Bok Ltd.

2023 Drive Fore Hope Recap

2023 Drive Fore Hope Recap

We enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day at this year’s Drive Fore Hope charity golf scramble. 32 teams turned out and played this year!

Thank you to our amazing sponsors who make this event possible.

This year’s winning team was from F&M Bank. Pictured above (from left to right) is: Brad Myers, Chad Penrod, Clark Carroll and  Doug Shaw. A commemorative brick will be created for them and placed in the patio of our playground at NHA.

Platinum Title Sponsors:

  • Everence Financial
  • Farmers & Merchants State Bank
  • Returning American Warriors (RAW)
  • Rupp Seeds, Inc.

Gold Event Sponsors:

  • 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
  • ACE Hardware – Wauseon
  • Circle K

Silver Contest Sponsors:

  • Auto Images
  • Babcock Flooring
  • Continental Plaza Car Wash & Drive Thru Carry Out
  • DR Ag & Construction
  • EagleCreek Staffing LLC
  • Fitzenrider
  • Haas Door
  • Holthues & Associates
  • K & L Farms
  • Reitzel Ag Equipment 
  • Meyer-Badenhop Insurance
  • Schuette Construction, Inc.
  • Subway of Archbold, Delta, Swanton, Waterville & West Unity
  • Wayne Dalton Garage Doors
  • Wilhelm Farms
  • Winzeler & Bok, LTD

Bronze Meal Sponsors:

  • Pettisville Grain Co.
  • Swanton Welding & Machining Co.
  • Terry Henricks Auto Group

O2 Tee Sponsors:

  • Archbold Main Stop
  • Aquatek Water Conditioning
  • Beck Insurance Agency
  • Car 1
  • Creighton Electric
  • Edward Jones – Wauseon
  • Golf Graphics
  • Ironwood Golf Course
  • Kinsman Propane
  • OK Electric
  • Rychener Seed
  • Sonit Systems
  • Tomahawk Printing Inc

We would also like to thank Advanced America for donating the water and snacks for our players and Samuel Mancinos Archbold for the delicious lunch for everyone after the event!

Thanks to the staff, volunteers, sponsors, and participants for making this such a great day. 

Photos from the day can be found our Facebook page by clicking HERE.

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Thank You to Our Amazing Donors

Thank You to Our Amazing Donors

Sara’s Garden is SO blessed by such caring and truly generous Northwest Ohio organizations, businesses, and family foundations! A SUPER summer thank you goes out to the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy (CP) Fund, the Delta Eagles Auxiliary, Lockrey Manufacturing, and the Roach Family Foundation for helping to support our special needs children and their families!

Ohio Elks Association

Thank You to the Ohio Elks Association, its CP Fund, and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53! The Ohio Elks CP Fund donated $14,000 towards the purchase of a key piece of rehabilitative and conductive education (CE) equipment—the Dynamic Stair Trainer Triple, which will electronically elevate steps and simulate a walking slope for our special needs students with cerebral palsy (CP) and other neuromuscular disorders at our new regional special education campus in Springfield Township in Holland, Ohio. It will assist our students from across Northwest Ohio with their rehabilitative, CE, occupational therapy (OT), and daily life skills needs.

The Ohio Elks Association provides financial aid to established Cerebral Palsy Treatment Centers, and Sara’s Garden is honored to be one of their chosen programs. Every year, Ohio Elks Lodges from across the state raise money to support organizations, which provide care, treatment, training, and rehabilitation for individuals with CP. We are so grateful to the Ohio Elks Association, the CP Fund, and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53 for this grant.

To learn more about the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53 or the Ohio Elks Association, to make a donation to the CP Fund, or for a fun family day out, stop by the Sylvania Elks Car Show on Saturday, July 29, call 419-841-6653, or log onto https://www.elks.org/lodges/home.cfm?LodgeNumber=53

Delta Eagles Ladies Auxiliary

A big thank you goes out to the Delta Eagles Ladies Auxiliary, which generously donated $5,000 to New Horizons Academy (NHA) and $5,000 to Special Grounds Coffee. The donations will be used for occupational therapy (OT) and vocational skills training supplies for our special needs students and young adults as they practice, master, and hopefully transition their daily life skills into job placement and work-related skills. NHA serves preschool to high school students while Special Grounds Coffee offers vocational skills training and work study placements for special needs young adults.

Delta-area special needs students make up over 10% of NHA’s enrollment. Out of 25 school districts, Delta has the third largest student population at NHA. With student scholarships covering just a portion of NHA’s tuition costs and with over 80% of our students considered low-income, Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy are constantly looking for ways to cover our educational expenses. We are just so grateful to the Delta Eagles Ladies Auxiliary for helping us to cover part of our OT and vocational skills costs, so our special education students can practice the daily life and work skills that they will need to become as independent as they can possibly be.

A special congratulations goes out to Pam Castillo on becoming the Ohio State Auxiliary Outside Guard. You can send her your congratulations and warm wished through the Delta Eagles Facebook Page. For more information about the Delta Eagles Auxiliary, call 419-822-0227.

Lockrey Manufacturing

For the first time ever, Sara’s Garden and its special needs students were the recipients of the Lockrey Manufacturing Community Service Grant. Thank you, Lockrey and its 100% employee-owned business for designating us as one of your 2023 community service organizations! This 100% Made in the USA Toledo manufacturer and its very generous employees donated $12,000 towards Playworld’s Balance Trax Obstacle Course and Parallel Bars System for children and young adults with CP as a part of the new, fully inclusive playgrounds at New Horizons Academy’s Springfield Campus to increase physical education (PE), rehabilitation, CE, wellness, and recreational programs for special needs children.

School-aged children with cerebral palsy (CP) are 30% less active and about twice as sedentary as their typically developing classmates. Today’s educators know that play is about more than just fun, recreational, physical activities. The obstacle course and parallel bars are created and customized to meet the needs of children with disabilities. They are physically adaptable for kindergarten to high school students with a wide range of physical and neurological disabilities, and their benefits are endless including lower extremity strengthening, reciprocal leg motion patterning, balancing skills, using visual, spatial perception, and social interaction with adults and peers including building relationships, modeling dignity, sharing ordinary spaces and activities, and making choices together.

For more information on Lockrey Manufacturing, its employee-owned and operated Toledo facility, or its 100% Made in America equipment, log onto https://www.lockreymanufacturing.com/

Roach Family Foundation

Long-time supporter, the Roach Family Foundation donated $10,000 to help Sara’s Garden expand and improve its Vocational Skills Lab at its NHA Springfield Campus. This expansion and renovation include the addition of a three compartment sink and hand washing station, a coffee/beverage prep station, and a commercial washer and dryer with installation of commercial-grade plumbing, electrical conduits and new outlets, and dry wall and finishing. This expansion would support our special needs students’ vocational education in weighing, bagging, and beginning to market and prepare our locally blended and roasted coffees both through retail sales and wholesale efforts with all proceeds going back into supporting the vocational needs of our special education students.

The students would be trained in our vocational skills lab to package, brew up coffee creations, serve customers both on-site and through the Coffee Cart, clean and maintain the unit, and package and sell simple breakfast treats and desserts. The students are so excited and looking forward to serving customers in the Holland and Springfield Township areas. They love visiting and working at the Wauseon Career Center, but they want to become active members of their community–serving coffee and working in Lucas County.

For more information about the Roach Family Foundation, its scholarships, or its work in the Toledo-area, stop by its program center at 2319 S. Detroit Ave. in Maumee.

Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy rely so heavily on the generosity and caring of Northwest Ohio businesses organizations, so please take a moment during your busy day to thank the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy Fund, the Delta Eagles Ladies Auxiliary, Lockrey Manufacturing, and the Roach Family Foundation for all they do for Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy!

Donations continue to be accepted and fundraising efforts continue for the inclusive outdoor playground at our NHA-Springfield Township Campus in Holland. For more information on the playground project or to donate to it, please call 419-335-4NHA or email [email protected].

Springfield Playground Project Underway

Springfield Playground Project Underway

New Horizons Academy (NHA) has officially broken ground and begun installing its inclusive, multisensory playground equipment at its Springfield Township Campus. NHA hopes to unveil the new playground at the beginning of this school year in August. Come on out August 17 for the school Open House and get a peek at our new, AWESOME playground!

In the coming weeks the artificial grass turf and fence are scheduled to be installed. But for now, get a sneak peek of our playground under construction!

Donations are still being accepted to help cover the cost of this new play area, so please consider giving today or walking in the September 2023 NHA Fun Run/Walk.