Tender Loving Care Wares

WHO ARE WE? We are a non-profit social service organization.  Our members are mildly cognitively disabled and in need of jobs.  We are aware that the job market is very tight at this time but it is always tight for us. Like all people our members have talents and skills but only a few are able to get part-time, unskilled jobs that offer no benefits and pay minimum wage. We cannot support ourselves or our families on those salaries assuming we actually have one.  Many of our members live on Social Security disability benefits and medicaid. These benefits allow us to eke out only a subsistent living.  What do we plan on doing about it?  We are raising funds to open a "Green" business selling environmentally friendly cleaning products, infant clothing, bedding and diapers made of natural materials, healthful pet foods,organically grown garden plants, worm compost, organic potting and garden soils, scented candles that we make, good used children's clothing and arts and crafts made of recycled or sustainable materials that serve a useful purpose within a home. How will your donations be used? We will lease a store, buy stock, grow the plants, train employees, furnish the store, set up a website on which to sell our products and keep whatever is left to get through our first year or until we make a profit. What other purpose will this business serve? We will employ as many members as possible on a temporary basis after they are trained in the various skills needed to run the business in the store and online. Members will be chosen for training based upon interviews and will be employed after training for several months and then move on to employment elsewhere so that we can continue to train and employ more members. We have over 500 members now and that number grows every spring when Special Education students graduate from high school.  Whatever profit we make after the bills are paid will help support our organization. Who else benefits from our being employed?  Our society benefits because we are gainfully employed and so have no need of the Social Security Disability benefits or other government help. On an individual level, we become productive members of society who contribute instead of needing a hand out. We have no money to offer rewards to our donors unless you count the good feeling you will get knowing that you have changed lives for the better.