Our Programs
Yellow Door
Poem By: Kara Curtin, EST Participant
There is a yellow door on the corner of the street.
The atmosphere there is warm and inviting. The air smells of cookies, and voices clamor all around the walls, closed into a safety net of sorts for those of us who are different but oh, so strong. Everything that we are is okay here. The door leads home. I feel safe there. Like nothing bad can touch me anymore. It can't get in. Enter through the door. Locked out. Unwelcome.
Instead, the yellow door holds acceptance, quality and friendship. Its own beauty which the world around us needs more of. And so, we can change it. Just by being ourselves. And nothing else. And that is okay. There is respect and kindness inside the yellow door, and all are welcome here. We are free to be ourselves, regardless of what that entails, and all are seen as unique and special, no matter what anyone else thinks or says.
That's just the way it is here. The yellow door holds home, a family, a community and individuality; all within the confines of four walls, a few windows and a roof. A simple house with a little yellow door is all it is. And so much more.
COMMUNITY-BASED DAY PROGRAM
Five days each week, participants are dropped off by parents and caregivers (or transported by our spectacular van) to learn, work, and thrive in our warm and welcoming teahouses. Protection of this vulnerable population is of the utmost importance. We love
providing a safe haven for our participants – and other adults with disabilities in the community.
Activities are based on our participants' interests, and each participant and staff have an individualized schedule. We do activities together, like:
Music
Art Therapy
Volunteering & Events
Outings
Life Skills
Gardening
Group-employment program
Our supported group employment program is headed up by Kristen, our vocational teacher. Participants work on the tea room floor with our tearistas and are involved in all the duties of running a tea room – like greeting and waiting on customers, running the cash register, stocking shelves, taking inventory, busing tables, and washing dishes. With the help of Kristen's wonderful skills and knowledge, our participants create all the gluten-free baked goods for our tea houses, as well as wholesale orders.
Alicia and Cheryl head up groups that stamp all our paper goods, such as bags, cups, and tissue paper for our take out goodie boxes. They also lead groups that handle labels and packaging for all our EST products and mail out our online orders.
Chef Caitlin, our Kitchen Manager in Housatonic, prepares delicious foods for our breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea menu in the "back of the house," alongside participants in our Vocational Food Prep Program.
More recently in our "front of the house" in Housaatonic, our participants are learning table service and other customer service related skills.
Sarah, our Tea Blending Director, leads participants in blending and packaging our Signature Teas.
Participants are paid at least minimum wage for work performed at the teahouse in our group supported employment program. We believe that people with disabilities deserve & desire equal opportunities.