It Takes a Village
It Takes a Village to Raise a Child & It Takes Community Partnerships to Support Sara’s Garden & Its Families!
They say, “It takes a village to raise a child;” and Sara’s Garden believes that it takes a community and community partnerships to support its children and adults with disabilities and other special needs, as well as their families. Sara’s Garden wants to thank and recognize its many community partners and partnerships for all they do for our clients and their families!
Through fundraising efforts, vocational partnerships, organizational collaborations, community partnerships, and the love and support of our volunteers and donors, Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy (NHA), its Career Center, and its latest venture—Special Grounds Coffee impact the lives of so many in need from across Northwest Ohio. Through these community partnerships, Sara’s Garden is able to support and lift up so many children and clients with disabilities and their families with the power of hope, help, and healing!
Sara’s Garden believes that when a child with special needs is given the opportunity to become as independent as he or she can possibly be and to fulfill his or her full potential, families and communities are changed forever! Among the many community partners and partnerships, which bring hope, help and healing to our clients and families are: Anderzack-Pitzen Construction, Andres O’Neil & Lowe, Arrow Tru-Line, Auto Images, Babcock Flooring Installs, Beck Insurance, Blue Layne Boutique, Car 1, Circle K, Continental Plaza Car Wash & Drive Thru Carry Out, Cordy Insurance Agency, Creighton Electric, Csehi Family, Defiance Moose Family Center, Edward Jones, Everence, F&M Bank, Gearig Flooring, Golf Graphics, Grieser Transportation, Guy O’Connor, Haas Door, Hite Concrete Equipment, Holthues & Associates, Ironwood Golf Club, Kinsman Propane, Krauss-Lane Electric, Meijer, Meyer-Badenhop Insurance, Miller Brothers Construction, Nagle Companies, Pettisville Grain, Reinbolt Family, Reitzel Ag Equipment, Returning American Warriors (RAW), Riley Tractor Parts, Rupp Seeds, Rychener Seed, Schuette Construction, Subway, Swanton Welding & Machining, Terry Henricks Auto Group, The Image Group, The Leaf and Seed Café, Tomahawk, Wauseon Chamber of Commerce, Wauseon Machine & Helping Hands, Weeping Willow Florist, Winzeler & Bok, and Wolf Creek YMCA.
Through community health and educational partnerships, Sara’s Garden is able to provide the highest quality of medical and educational programming available and empowers individuals with disabilities to reach their full potential. According to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines, over 80% of NHA families are considered low-income with 63% considered very low-income. Our special needs students and their families are dealing with multiple medical, mental health, and financial issues and concerns. NHA students are from over 25 Northwest Ohio public school districts with many of them participating in Special Grounds Coffee fundraisers and other activities to help support vocational skills training for youth and young adults with disabilities. Among the schools working with NHA, Sara’s Garden, its students, and Special Grounds Coffee are– Bryan City Schools, the Delta Parent Athletic Club, Evergreen Local Schools, Liberty Center Schools, Millcreek-West Unity School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA), Pettisville Local Schools, Stryker Local Schools, and Wauseon Exempted Village Schools. Through its medical and health care partnerships, Sara’s Garden also works closely with numerous medical providers including Dermatology Associates and the Fulton County Health Center (FCHC).
Special Grounds Coffee works closely with its local school partners and other organizations through coffee fundraisers to help provide meaningful vocational opportunities for NHA’s special education students. Those that have been a part of the coffee fundraising program have seen a great return on their investment both financially and through hands-on product preparation, bagging, and delivery. Among Special Grounds Coffee community partners are: Christy’s Corner, Continental Plaza, Crossroads Church, Diamond Jim’s Pool Hall, Enviroscape ECM, the Fulton County Commissioners, Fulton County Humane Society, Fulton County Sharp Shooters & Showman, Johnston Fruit Farms, Lange Bakery, Living Word Galena, Lugbill Supply Center, Marigold Market, New Hope Community Church, Pathfinders, Penny Crest, Pettisville Missionary Church, Redemption Church, RAW, True North Church, and Wyse Guys.
NHA and its Career Center also work with numerous community partners to provide vocational skills training and community work study placements. Among these work study partners are: Ace Hardware, Chief Supermarkets, the Fulton County Airport, Goodwill Industries, Home Restaurant, and Triangular Processing with additional community work sites coming on weekly.
If you, your business, or organization are interested in partnering with Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy, Special Grounds Coffee, or its new Career Center, please call or email Sara’s Garden’s Community Outreach Coordinator Tara Dumas at 419-335-7272 or tarad@sarasgarden.org.
Again, “it takes a village to raise a child” and community partnerships to support children and adults with disabilities and their families. Sara’s Garden wants to thank and recognize all of its many community partners and partnerships. If we have missed anyone, please know that we are grateful and appreciate everything that you have helped Sara’s Garden and its clients with. Only through these very valuable community partnerships is Sara’s Garden able to support and lift up so many children and clients with disabilities and their families with the power of hope, help, and healing!
