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.
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 teahouse. 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.
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 Hannah and Caitlin 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 house. Alicia and Jennifer head up a group that stamps all our paper goods, such as bags, cups, and tissue paper for our take out goodie boxes. Ed leads a group that handles labels and packaging for all our EST products and heads up building projects or basic handyman activities. 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.