Everything I do has a meaningful lesson to it. And opening the Sensory Fun and Playroom has been no exception!
I am excited to share the lessons I learned along the way, from having my own in-home daycare to opening one of the first sensory playrooms in Fort Wayne, Indiana! I want to use this space to educate parents and guardians of children with various disabilities to keep going and growing!
I invite you to come along with me so I can recount my journey to open this playroom and how the vision that God gave me strengthened me during the hard times.
It started with owning my own daycare.
I started off with my own home daycare because I wanted to raise my children and needed to help out with the household budget.
It wasn’t long before I realized I had a passion for children with disabilities when I started enrolling kids with special needs in my daycare.
I found my niche and I had kids that were ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenic, and autistic in my daycare.
Then my son came into the world
Soon after my last child was born, I noticed that he wasn’t like my other children. Around the ages of two or three, he displayed behavioral problems, which puzzled me.
Around the age of eight, we discovered that there were more challenges, like comprehension problems, speech delays, and retention delays.
I had to accept that one of my own children had a disability.
Even though my niche was working with children that had disabilities, it was still hard working with my son. I utilized my knowledge to the best of my ability before he started school, but it was still very difficult.
We experienced problems as early as preschool, where the school would call me because of his behavior, which wasn't so much his behavior as his inability to verbalize what he needed.
Eventually, I pulled him out of private school and placed him in a public school, where he had specific accommodations in and out of the classroom. His behavior and learning began to improve.
While in his new school environment, he received his first invitation to a birthday party. I remember him telling me, “Momma, I have friends now!” Before this, he was never invited because kids were scared of him because of his behavior.
Now at 16 years old, he has no visual signs of a disability. I believe it was the intervention that he received and the help he got from the school program that turned the tide for my son.
My Journey to Opening the Sensory Fun and Playroom
I closed my daycare in 2012 and went to work teaching in a preschool classroom until 2016. In 2016, I began to work in an autism clinic.
I knew I wanted another business, I just was not sure what it would be.
Although I made good money at the Clinic, I knew that it wasn’t going to be a long-term position. I couldn’t stay there. I loved the kids, but it wasn’t my purpose to stay as I was made to do something greater.
One day, I was sharing how frustrated and stressed out I was with my church group. When someone suggested I look into a franchise that was coming to Fort Wayne.
I reached out to a former college professor who referred me to a gentleman at the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC), where he became my business mentor.
Since I was not able to obtain a business plan from the franchise owner. He, my mentor, encouraged me to start writing a business plan and meet with other community leaders for feedback.
After creating a business plan, a mission, and a portfolio, I still didn’t have clarity on the vision until God gave me the three parts to it: a kid's playroom, a sensory gym, and a place for therapists to work with their clientele.
There were countless ups and downs, and I would come back to my business mentor’s office only for him to tell me that he had not found any opportunities that would work within my business plan.
I always cried!
But he encouraged me to not give up despite the disappointment I was feeling.
One year later and after giving my two weeks' notice to the Autism Clinic, I was ready to find a place for my playroom. My business mentor encouraged me to look for churches because churches are empty most of the time.
My grandson went to preschool on the other side of a church building and every time I walked past the room, I got a little nudge, and I knew it was the Holy Spirit, but I ignored it.
I eventually called and was able to see the room, but I wanted to look around more. Several months went by before I got a call to say that I could lease the space!
I rejoiced!
The relief was short-lived as that’s when the real work began. I sat with many organizations to find funding, and not being able to get any funding, I was encouraged to start and start small.
There were donations and help from my church and my husband donated money from his 401k to help me get started.
I learned how to use the drill and made the gym equipment since I had a small amount of money to work with. Because the space was a storage area for the church, the church gifted me a large portion of the equipment.
God provided, but it just didn’t look the way I thought it would look.
I opened the Sensory Fun and Playroom in October 2020 where I offer open play times, birthday parties, host mom playdates, open houses for community organizations and churches, therapy appointments, community outings, and much more!
The Vision is Bigger
The vision is bigger than the playroom as I envision people coming from all over. I know it’s only a matter of time before the business exceeds the space.
My vision is to be a city attraction and it’s coming alive. It’s only a matter of time.
Sensory Fun and Playroom could not exist without the passion God has given me and the vision of what will come as I walk in His direction. Although it has not been easy, the journey has been beyond my imagination
Just like Ephesians 3:20 in The Passion Translation says, “Now to him who is able to [carry out his purpose] and do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to his power that is at work within us”
I hope to see you at the next open play or at a private event!
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