In late 2010, the doors were about to close on the Greenbrier Greenhouse Program. For more than three decades, the innovative social enterprise had provided jobs at the historic Edgerton Park Gardens and Greenhouse to adults with autism and other developmental and physical disabilities. Tending plants and helping customers was therapeutic to participants, having the effect of brightening the personalities of individuals with depression and difficult behaviors. But Easter Seals/Goodwill Industries, which managed the program, said they could no longer sustain the operation.
Instead of looking for a new job, Scott Hickman, the 15-year manager of Greenbrier, decided to act. He and a partner formed the nonprofit, GROWERS, Inc. and took over the program. Continue reading.
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