Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
A hidden gem living in the village of Walbridge, Sunshine Communities is working to enhance relationships through the services they provide.
Although Sunshine’s main office is in Maumee, the main focus of both facilities is caring for the individuals who live there. However, they differ in regard to how much assistance their residents may need.
“The people that live (in Walbridge) have developmental disabilities, but they’re able to be in a community home,” director of marketing and communications for Sunshine Communities Mallory Crooks said. “At our base facility, which is in Maumee, those individuals have higher medical needs that have to be around nursing 24/7.”
Though residents have the opportunity to do things like puzzles, watch television and play games within their community home, they also spend their time doing things in their community.
“We have this home here, but then all of the individuals that live here, they still experience things in this community,” Crooks said. “We have what we call venture groups, where some of the people live with us and some do not, and they go do different activities.”
Some of the activities the residents do include outings to Pearson Park, Maumee Bay State Park, local fire stations and Random Acts of Walbridge. Crooks said experiences like these have led to new relationships between the members of Sunshine and those in the community.
“Individuals have toured fire stations, explored fire trucks and equipment, practiced fire safety skills, sprayed the hoses, participated in emergency preparedness activities and learned safe evacuation techniques,” Crooks said. “Beyond learning opportunities, the relationship has created meaningful social connections through shared meals, games, holiday activities, community service projects and hands-on experiences.”
When members of Sunshine want to go out and do things in the community, Crooks said having more volunteers to help with their experience would be valuable.
“If there’s a community event, sometimes it’s tough for the staff since there are only two people working at a time to get that many people out,” Crooks said. “But if they were to go out and have extra hands, then they can take more people.”
Crooks added that to volunteer, no prior experience is required, and these opportunities can be as much or as little of a commitment as someone would like. For more information on how to volunteer with Sunshine Communities, visit Sunshine.org/volunteer.
Compared to other supported living homes, manager of program services Rebecca Cairl said that what sets Sunshine apart is making sure their buildings feel like the residents’ homes.
“I feel like Sunshine takes not only pride in our individuals, but they take pride in their homes to make sure it looks nice and it fits within the community,” Cairl said.
Crooks also mentioned that Sunshine Communities offers employment opportunities for those interested in making an impact on their community.
“People in the community, maybe they’re in between jobs, it might be something interesting to them,” Crooks said. “There’s an opportunity here…We want to let the community know we hire people.”
Walbridge is one of the many branches of Sunshine Communities within the Toledo metropolitan area. For more information about services, employment opportunities and the values of Sunshine Communities, visit Sunshine.org.
