Our September Informational Tour featured a visit to We Grow Dreams in West Chicago.
Started by a group of Naperville parents, We Grow Dreams is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. A wholesale and retail greenhouse, We Grow Dreams offers their Team Members the chance to train and work in a supportive, safe and caring environment while providing goods and services to the community.
Team Members participate in over 40 jobs around the greenhouse including: filling pots, planting seeds and seedlings, deadheading, transplanting, watering, site maintenance, stocking plants/supplies, greeting customers, cashiering and clerical work. They also create a variety of crafts which are sold in the We Grow Dreams gift shop such as garden ornaments, greeting cards, personalized garden bricks and birdhouses.
Thank you to Gregg Bettcher, Executive Director, for explaining the We Grow Dreams model and showing us around the greenhouse. Some of us even did a little shopping and many of us brought home some of their beautiful and affordable plants and flowers.
For more information about We Grow Dreams or becoming a Team Member, please contact Gregg at gregg@wegrowdreams.org.