Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
On Pay It Forward Day Tuesday, self-advocates at Cardinal Services were paying it forward to local nonprofits who are helping to create a more inclusive community for people with disabilities.
Cardinal Services self-advocates presented a total of $5,000 in surprise donations to Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP), Warsaw Community Public Library (WCPL) and Fulton County Animal Shelter thanks to the support from WindSwell Foundation (formerly AWS Foundation).
A self-advocate is an individual with disabilities who use their experiences to promote inclusion, accessibility and positive change in their communities, according to information provided by Cardinal Services. The selected nonprofits were nominated by the self-advocates.
The first donation was made to SHP at Cardinal Services. A national nonprofit, SHP builds beds for children in need. The Kosciusko County chapter of SHP started in 2024.
Cardinal Services self-advocate Cassie Houin has volunteered in the past with SHP.
“I enjoy going to other people’s houses and putting the beds together and helping them make the kids happy and surprising them with different kinds of bed coverings and it brings joy to me a lot,” she said.
She also has helped stain the beds.
Norma Bauer, Cardinal Services day services coordinator, thanked Becky Kiphart, SHP Kosciusko County chapter coordinator, for the opportunities given to Cardinal Services participants and allowing them to give back to the community. Because of that, Bauer said Cardinal Services partnered with WindSwell to present a check to SHP to say thank you for partnering with them “and really bringing purpose to what we do.”
WindSwell Chief Program Officer Joni Schmalzried said Pay It Forward started a few years ago and is a national movement.
“What we do is we have 11 service providers in Northeast Indiana and we give all of them a pocket of money, and half that money they use to do something with employer-clients, but the other half they have the people that they’re serving talk about who in the community they like serving because a lot of times people think people with disabilities take all the time, and it’s so important to see how much they give back and what a difference it makes in their life to give back to their community,” Schmalzried explained.
She told Kiphart the self-advocates got to choose which organization they wanted to give to and SHP was one of the organizations they chose because “they feel really valued and they feel they’re offering a service to you.”
“We have built over 900 beds now, and we have delivered over 700, so it is still going strong,” she said.
They just launched their first build of the season at the beginning of April. Kiphart said they have about 12 builds on the schedule this year.
“We’re eager, eager to partner with new sponsors, and it’s all great,” she said.
Anyone interested in getting involved with SHP can visit their website at SHP.org.
The second donation was presented to WCPL at the library.
Bauer said this past year, the library reached out to Cardinal Services and asked them what they could do for them. They formed a partnership that is educational and user-friendly. Cardinal Services self-advocate Brianna Lengel joined the monthly meetings.
Schmalzried explained to the library staff what WindSwell does and how their purpose is to build more inclusive and accessible communities in Northeast Indiana. They fund grants and other opportunities for schools, libraries, cities and other organizations. She also explained the Pay It Forward donations and how the self-advocates chose the library.
“We thank you for what you do and recognizing that all people deserve the same place in the community, whether it’s a library or school or grocery store. Everybody deserves the same opportunities,” Schmalzried said.
Bauer said the donation to the library is based on the library staff’s impact on those coming into the library and the partnership the WCPL formed with Cardinal Services.
Lengel said what’s been most impactful to her is all the activities WCPL’s Dana McAfee does for them.
“We do crafts sometimes. This Friday, we’re doing Disney trivia, a couple of prizes and things, and we have snacks. I ask them what they like to do and then I try to find things they’ll enjoy,” McAfee said.
McAfee, a retired teacher, said right out of college, years ago, she worked for a little while at Cardinal. It made an impact on her then, and it gave her a heart for them.
“So when I came here (to WCPL) and I was given quite a bit of freedom to do programs and to reach out and to find community partners, they just popped in my head. I thought, ‘This is a great way to start. Just to bring them in and show them what they can experience here,’” McAfee stated.
Many of the monthly meetings with them have themes, like St. Patrick’s Day in March and Disney Trivia. “I just kind of let them tell me what kind of things they like to do, and the first day was showing them” everything they can do in the library.
“The nice thing about the programs here at the library is that you don’t have to have a card to come to the programs. Anybody can come to the programs, so it’s been nice,” she said, and she’s been able to meet some new people.
Due to some major statewide budget cuts, McAfee said her programming, the things she can offer, are now done for the year. Tuesday’s donation might be able to provide something for another program.
“We don’t always have to pay for the things we do. We need supplies and things like that, but if I bring in a speaker or a performer, or somebody, they have to be paid so the patrons don’t have to. That’s the whole point of this, so it’ll really help for patron access to the programs that we do,” she explained.
To find out more about the programs, call WCPL at 574-267-6011, extension 2273 for McAfee.
The final donation was presented to the Fulton County Animal Shelter in Rochester.
Schmalzried said WindSwell Foundation serves Northeast Indiana with the sole goal of making communities more inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities.
“So this is project that we do every year called Pay It Forward Day, and what we do on this day is we have 11 primary service providers in Northeast Indiana. We give each of them $10,000: $5,000 we want them to do something special for the people they serve, so maybe buy something new for a group home or take them to a Tin Caps game, to the zoo,” she said. “But the other dollars is really about paying it forward to the community. So they have a group of self-advocates in each of the providers, and they get together and they talk about where they’re volunteering, who helps them, who are they serving, who is serving them, and then they choose, usually two or three community organizations that they want to give money to.”
Schmalzried said the twofold goal is to show that people with disabilities aren’t taking all the time, that they are giving a lot back; and that the self-advocates get to see the joy of giving back.
“It’s really neat because they vote. They get together with their group, they choose, they vote and they pick two or three in the community,” she stated.
WindSwell Foundation representatives were traveling to 49 different organizations over the region Tuesday to present the Pay It Forward donations.
“We like this because we get to come out to the communities, we get to see people and hear the stories of what they’re doing. I’m a fan of Pay It Forward,” Schmalzried said.
In a provided news release, Cardinal Executive Director Marcie Arndt applauded WindSwell Foundation for empowering self-advocates to make the gifts themselves. She said, “The individuals in our programs have a passion for service and volunteering. Being actively involved in the community is important to them, and they want to contribute to making it all it can be. We are grateful to WindSwell Foundation for giving them a tangible and meaningful way to do that.”
