meet our Besties
Our Besties are the backbone of Joy House. They make our job possible. We invite you to join their journey, hear their story, and support their cause.
Seth
Seth, who has Down Syndrome, lives on his own in the “Joy House” in Firestone, Colorado. He creates drawings that can be found on greeting cards, apparel, home goods, and more!
Fun Fact: Seth loves to sing and has a concert in his house every night. Everyone is his best friend. And he loves coffee.
Lacey
Lacey, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Colorado. She creates baby blankets as well as several other products for Joy House.
Fun Fact: Lacey is a sports fanatic, a great golfer, and loves music!
Allie
Allie, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. She creates artwork with bright colors and patterns that are framed or made into jewelry and accessories.
Fun Fact: Allie loves movies and knows so much about actors, directors, and how films were made. She's pepperoni pizza fanatic and has worked part time at Cincinnati Children's Hospital for 13 years.
Patrick
Patrick, who has Cerebral Palsy, lives in Vermont. He creates layered jars of dry goods including cookie dough, soup, teas, etc.
Fun Fact: Patrick loves to listen to music, spend time outdoors, sing, swim, and participate in adaptive skiing and triathlons!
Julia
Julia, who has Down Syndrome, along with Liv and Emily, live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They create textile products which are screen printed with original hand-cut patterns.
Fun Fact: Julia loves to dance and create artwork, which is what inspired her screen printed products!
Owen
Owen, lives in Longmont, Colorado. He creates homemade sustainable soaps in various scents.
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Fun Fact: Owen started his business out of his garage with his best friend, Mikey!
Sophia
Sophia, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Virginia. She creates unique artwork with an infectious sense of joy, humor, and exuberance.
Fun Fact: Sohpia walked the runway as a model in the 2013 Global Down Syndrome Foundation Gala.
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ScentsAbility
ScentsAbility is a non-profit based out of Florida. They empower adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to find purposeby creating artisan scented candles .
Fun Fact: Bonnie and Denise founded ScentsAbility in 2009 after being inspired by their daughters, Jessica and Lexy!
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Channing
Channing, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Denver, Colorado. She creates designs and hand-weaves oven mitts.
Fun Fact: Channing is a former champion cheerleader and is passionate about art, Pad Thai, winning the game of Sorry, and loves making lists and hugs!
Hunter
Hunter, who has Autism, is from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He creates soaps, scrubs, bath bombs, and candles.
Fun Fact: Hunter loves to play video games and hang out with his friends. He was recently promoted to the title of Uncle!
Blake
Blake, who has Autism, is an artist from North Carolina. He paints landscapes, flowers, and animals with bright and unexpected colors.
Fun Fact: Blake stays active taking three art classes a week, works out at the gym every day, and participates in therapeutic horseback riding!
Kevin
Kevin, who has down syndrome, lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He creates organic and sustainable towelettes, scrubs, and bath bombs.
Fun Fact: Kevin loves working out and playing basketball. He enjoys socializing with everyone!
Emily
Emily, who has Down Syndrome, is from Colorado Springs, Colorado. She creates fabric quilts, totes, mug rugs, and jewelry bags.
Fun Fact: Emily creates every quilt with one square different from the rest, celebrating her extra chromosome!
Emily and Jason
Emily and Jason live in Rome, New York. The two roast and ship craft coffee all over the country.
Fun Fact: Their coffee shop began over 11 years ago with the purpose to hire employees who have developmental disabilites.
Highland Chocolates
Highland Chocolates is a non-profit chocolate factory located in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. They create premium chocolate products fresh daily, including molded chocolates, sweet snack mixes, fresh fudge, and handcrafted chocolate gifts.
Fun Fact: They are famous for their pretzel bark!
Allison
Allison, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Clermont, Florida. She makes homemade dog treats out of only natural, human grade ingredients.
Fun Fact: Allison found her love for cooking in the kitchen during a 2 year period where she could not eat or drink by mouth!
Natalie
Natalie, who has Asperger's/Autism, lives in Thornton, Colorado. She creates a full line of high quality bath products.
Fun Fact: Natalie enjoys traveling, going to musicals, and hanging out with her friends!
JT
JT, who has multiple disabilities, lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. He creates beautifully scented candles.
Fun Fact: JT communicates through his iPad. He is always overwhelmingly positive and absolutely loves people.
David
David, who has Down Syndrome, is a 60-year-old Colorado native. He creates beautiful pocket crosses.
Fun Fact: David LOVES the Denver Broncos! He loves smiling for the camera and is eager to help wherever he can.
The Bee Community
The Bee Community is a non-profit based out of Bryan, Texas. Their artisans craft high quality products like soaps, candles, dog treats, stationery and jewelry.
Fun Fact: BEE stands for Brazos Employment Enterprises and they have over 20 artisans!
Steamers
Jill, who has Down Syndrome, is one of the 40 employees with a developmental disability who works in a restaurant and prep kitcken in Arvada, Colorado. They make and serve coffee, food, jams, and baked goods.
Fun Fact: They are known for their homemade jam, where everyone helps to process the fruits, cook the jams, jar, and label them.
April
April, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Russell, Ohio. She creates glycerin crafted soap made with natural ingredients and herbal fragrances including Shea butter, honey, or goat’s milk.
Fun Fact: The herbs April uses are harvested in her own garden!
Matthew
Matthew, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Michigan. He is a chef who combines his love for food and fire to creates flaming flavors of BBQ sauce.
Fun Fact: Matthew studied Hospitality and Restaurant Management at Western Carolina University and hopes to open a restaurant someday.
Nolan
Nolan, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Texas. He makes hot pepper jelly with homegrown peppers and offers over 13 different flavors.
Fun Fact: In 2014, Nolan was a finalist in the HEB Quest for Texas Best!
Riley
Matthew, who has Autism, lives in Amityville, New York. He is culinary creative who developed a recipe for granola that is free from preservatives, dyes, and artificial sweeteners.
Fun Fact: Matthew loves to sell his granola at local farmers markets and events.
Jared
Jared, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Edina, Missouri. He creates jams with fruit (blackberries, plums, apples, strawberries, pears and peppers) from his family farm.
Fun Fact: In 2014, Jared represented Special Olympics at the United Nations in order to promote policy of acceptance in every nation.
Bill
Bill, who has intellectual disabilites, lives in Boulder, Colorado. Retiring from Boulder Beer after 26 years, Bill now creates artwork using floral shapes he learned from his paternal grandmother.
Fun Fact: Bill enjoys training service animals and volunteering at the community thrift store.
Grace
Grace, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Lakeside, Michigan. She creates hand-poured, fragrant candles, as well as farmstand products like soaps, seeds, bulbs, and florals.
Fun Fact: Grace loves the theater!
Haley
Haley, who has club feet, a hearing impairment, and a seizure disorder, lives in Northern Colorado. She creates beautiful artwork.
Fun Fact: Hailey's favorite medium of art is watercolor. Her favorite color is pink and her favorite food is spaghetti.
Jesse
Jesse, who has Down Syndrome, lives in Colorado. He creates western ponies out of felt. He often puts candy canes in them to create perfect Christmas tree decorations.
Fun Fact: Jesse loves to stick his head out of the car window and sing at the top of his lungs to strangers!
Sam
Sam, who has cerebral palsy, is an author and life coach. He helps others push through setbacks to reach life their life goals.
Fun Fact: Sam is certified by the worlds number 1 leadership expert, John Maxwell.
Wellspring
Wellspring is a community of adults with disabilities who operate in Castle Rock, Colorado. They create various products and goods, including decorative ceramics.
Fun Fact: Wellspring started with 4 young women who had developmental disabilities who learned to bake cookies together.