LeQuita:
What can innovative ministry look like in your context? Are there opportunities for you to directly address the emergent needs of those you are called to serve, while also establishing a network of care that empowers people to pursue their long-held dreams and aspirations? Our discussion today is with Dr. Kit Ford, who is the dynamic, innovative, passionate, and compassionate social entrepreneur who is doing all of this and more. You don't want to miss this.

Dr. Argrow "Kit" Evans-Ford is a spiritual director, social entrepreneur, and the founder of Argrow's House of Healing and Hope with two locations in Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois. Argrow's House is a safe place where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence in the Quad Cities region. Argrow's House is also a social enterprise where women healing from violence create beautiful bath products that provide a living wage for themselves in a safe space that celebrates who they are.

Dr. Kit is also the founder of Autistic & Loved, which is a ministry with a team of graphic illustrators and engineers where she created food-grade silicon pendants called Chewelry, as in chew and jewelry, for children with autism spectrum disorder and sensory processing disorders. Her pendants are the first invented that celebrate the beauty and diversity of autistic children. The line now includes a variety of pendants, oral and sensory resources, and vending machines. Autistic & Loved also provides sensory-friendly programming for kids with special needs.

Dr. Kit is the author of two books, the first, 101 Testimonies of Hope: Life Stories to Encourage Your Faith [sic], which includes inspiring works and pieces written by 52 writers and artists representing 12 countries and 14 languages. She is also the author of a children's book on Bishop Richard Allen from the African Methodist Episcopal Church entitled Bishop Richard Allen: A Nonviolence Journey. Please join us for this inspiring conversation with Dr. Argrow "Kit" Evans-Ford.

I'll start by reciting some words. Freedom, faith, family, education, nonviolence, courage and love. Those are some of the words that you open your children's book with, your book on Bishop Richard Allen.

Kit:
Yeah, so sweet.

LeQuita:
And possibly underlies a lot of the work that you have done. Can you say more about those words or principles?

Kit:
Yeah, yeah. So I grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, come from a long line of AME ordained clergy. When I was in seminary, I started that path, however, ultimately became a chaplain, international community development worker and a teacher of nonviolence. I worked for a Franciscan organization for about 12 years teaching nonviolence, gospel nonviolence grounded in the teachings of Jesus, but also the teachings of Gandhi and others. And so I didn't move forward on the ordination track in the AME Church, but I've always been a lover of the AME Church and also of the rich history within the AME Church and the legacy and everything that Bishop Richard Allen established and grounded and fought for so that we could have what we have as African Americans period in America.

And so it was just incredibly motivated to write a children's book focused on active nonviolence and how Bishop Allen, when he was literally pulled off of his knees at the altar, instead of fighting back with his fists, he fought back with love, with active nonviolence, with creating programs. And it gave him even more energy to do good work and to build the AME Church and community programs for African Americans during that time. And so I was really motivated to create a beautiful book that shared how active nonviolence can literally help to not just transform lives, but transform history like Bishop Allen did in so many ways. And for him, it was about freedom, faith, family. He literally was able to purchase his way out of freedom, but as he got older, family, community, love were all these different common threads throughout his life and many of those threads we aspire to embrace in our everyday lives as well.

And so that was really my motivation at the beginning of the book. And we'll talk about my Grandma Argrow. She's actually telling the story to my little sister Bobby.

LeQuita:
Aw, that's sweet.

Kit:
Yeah, my Grandma Argrow was very dear to us, and I think I shared that she was a local deacon in the AME Church. For different reasons, she wasn't able to move forward with ordination until she was 70 years old. And at that time, I do remember her, she had had several strokes, an amputated leg and so many other health challenges, but she loved the church, she loved her community, and she stood up there with boldness sharing and preaching the gospel and was determined to move forward with her local deacon credentials within the AME Church and did it months before she passed away.

And so her commitment to the church, her commitment to serving the sick and helping the needy and loving and establishing and sharing so much love in our community, it was really also motivation for me to write this book as a children's book on Bishop Richard Allen. And it's also a curriculum that focuses on different subject areas and Bishop Richard Allen's life, and then it's an art exhibit as well.

LeQuita:
Wonderful.

Kit:
Yeah. Things get so busy, because I have the Richard Allen book and then Argrow's House, which has taken much of my time over the last few years, and now Autistic & Loved, a sensory gym for kids with special needs. And so much time is distributed. But I definitely want to get back to sharing the story of Bishop Richard Allen in creative ways teaching about active nonviolence to children moving forward. So I'm grateful we have that as a resource.

LeQuita:
That is excellent. And I noticed in the book that you have direct quotes from Bishop Richard Allen as well as the dialogue from your grandmother and sister.

Kit:
Yeah, so I was able to work with the historian of the AME Church at the time, Dr. Dennis Dickerson. And then I was also able to connect with several of Bishop Allen's descendants, and there are several primary sources of Bishop Allen where we are able to read his words. He taught himself how to read, he wrote, and he documented so much of his life and his voice. And so we have those very special gifts and resources connected to his life and history, and so was able to use those primary sources as quotes within this children's book, which is really a gift that Bishop Allen left us. So thank you, Bishop Allen.

LeQuita:
Thank you, Bishop Allen. Well, I have some more words. Let me share these. Dreams, faith, hope, healing, prayer, relationships, joy, love, solidarity, and justice, discipleship and trust. And those words are all connected, principles are connected, with your other book, 101 Testimonies of Hope. Can you say a word about that?

Kit:
Yeah, so think about, it's interesting. Many years ago as a young person, I was leaving the Peace Corps and I had been blessed to do this international development work for a few years and had been throughout Africa, the Caribbean, throughout Asia, and I had met so many amazing people that were creative. Some religious, some spiritual, just had all these beautiful ways of expressing themselves through poetry, through art, through song, through words. And I wanted to be able to bring everyone together in a community. And so after I graduated from the Pacific School of Religion, I think it was back in 2012, I started an online platform called Testimonies of Hope and people could write devotionals and share art, and I had a template for how they could share this information. But that turned into a book, 101 Testimonies of Hope: Life Stories to Encourage Your Faith in God.

I ended up meeting my husband, Reverend Dwight Ford, and then came to the Quad Cities. And so we started a kind of Testimonies of Hope group here where we would have open mics and programming and conferences focused on the arts and healing. And then Testimonies of Hope eventually transitioned into Argrow's House, which is a healing house for women survivors of violence. And we also creatively make bath and body products that help women, that pay women healing from abuse a good living wage. And now we're starting a café.

And so Testimonies of Hope kind of evolved. So that book, 101 Testimonies of Hope. We saw your order too. Thank you, Dr. Porter. We'll be getting that in the mail today. Yay. I'll make sure to autograph that.

LeQuita:
Wonderful.

Kit:
Yeah, the interesting thing about when something is birthed, that God has blessed us to be able to birth, it may start as something and it has a foundation, but you never know how God will grow something. You never know how God will assist you in pivoting to really focus on the needs of what's needed at that time. But once it's birthed, just let it be birthed and plant that seed. And sometimes it grows the way that we think it's going to grow. Sometimes it grows in a different way, but those limbs and those branches can still be strong. They just may look a little different. So yeah, that's how Testimonies of Hope got started and Testimonies of Hope evolved into Argrow's House.

LeQuita:
Oh, I see. I read that there were 52 hope writers and hope artists representing 12 countries and 14 languages.

Kit:
Absolutely. Yeah. So the book is cool because I had met all of these amazing people and we were able to really move things forward and encourage each other. We had an online platform where people could communicate. We had a Facebook group, people who were able to connect in person, we were able to connect in person, and we even had an in-person conference during that season. So yeah, we celebrated language and culture and art and spirituality, and it was really an absolutely beautiful community that evolved into a community that to this day continues to help people and serve and heal in creative ways together.

LeQuita:
Well, we have heard the name Argrow a few times, and I learned that that is your first name, even though I call you affectionately Dr. Kit, which is a play on your middle name. But can you tell us a little bit about that name, Argrow, and why it's so meaningful?

Kit:
Yeah, so again, I'm from a small town in North Carolina called Mebane. I come from a family of matriarchs, but our matriarch, as I've already talked about, which I'll probably talk about her a few more times, Reverend Argrow Margaret Warren. We love her, and so all of us are named after my grandmother. My name is Argrow, my daughter's name is Argrow, my aunt's name is Argrow. If I'm blessed with a granddaughter one day, she'll be named Argrow.

And so yeah, it's a dear name that's connected to someone. My grandmother married at the age of 14. Back in that day in the South, that was normal, but my grandfather was much older. He was 27, and he had some challenges as it related to alcohol addiction and abuse. And so she experienced a lot of abuse as she was growing up and in that marriage, and she stayed in that marriage until the day he died. Now, part of my healing was really thinking about some of the positive things about my grandfather as well. So I do remember him being a tall, handsome man. I remember he taught us how to play horseshoes, and I remember he used to drink Coca-Cola in a glass bottle with peanuts.

All these little things God blessed me to be able to remember because a lot of times people who hurt people are also hurting people. The oppressed becomes the oppressor. It doesn't make what they do right, but it does help us to have a little more compassion for that person. And so he had these good qualities, taught all the grandkids how to play checkers, but he also had a very mean streak. And I remember the cuts on my grandmother's arms and on her neck and other places. I don't remember her complaining once about her situation. But I do remember that reality and how it did impact our family. It impacted my mom and her relationships. It impacted even my siblings, my older siblings and their relationships. So I kind of saw the cycle of abuse that just wasn't really a pretty thing to watch as a child.

But I also did see how even in the midst of my grandmother's suffering, she was so kind. Her faith was incredible, and she shared the love of God and in an unconditional way that I'm not sure if I've ever seen again. And so she's the reason I believe in God. She's the reason I believe in love. And so she just had an incredible impact on so many of us. And so when we started Argrow's House, Argrow's House really was my senior paper at the Pacific School of Religion, my senior seminar. So any students listening to this…

LeQuita:
[inaudible 00:17:12].

Kit:
...never underestimate the power of a good paper and making sure that what you're writing is connected to what you're passionate about. Because I was able to take that senior seminar paper, I talked about this women's center for healing and hope, where we would have a home, where we would provide free services for women healing from abuse. The missing link that I didn't have yet was the social enterprise component. One of my dear mentors, Becca Stevens with Thistle Farms, she calls it justice enterprise, and so in seminary, I was exposed to Thistle Farms, and they have a healing house called the Magdalene House where women are able to live. Women survivors of sex trafficking are able to live for two years, and they go through a very structured, very compassionate, beautiful program at the Magdalene House with Thistle Farms, but they also have a bath and body business as well. And they make beautiful candles and lotions and other things.

Twenty-five plus years in, they're a multimillion-dollar business. And so Reverend Becca Stevens, when I was exposed to this model, I said, "Oh, we as women, we can be ordained clergy, we can be chaplains if we choose, but we can also have a healing house and a business that helps to support that ministry? That's a thing? We can actually do that?" And so that gave me permission to step outside of the box. I think initially I thought, "Okay, I accept my call to ministry and I have to move forward on a specific track." And I think ordination is beautiful. I think that denominations do really, really great work regardless of what you choose, what denomination you choose. But as a young seminarian to be given permission to think about ministry outside of the box and that be creative, that we could be purposeful and we could even create businesses that would also be ministry to help marginalized populations, it just did something for my soul and it gave me permission to step out and to be creative in what God was calling me to do.

LeQuita:
And so you started the House of Healing and Hope, Argrow's House in what year?

Kit:
2017. So it's been about seven years now.

LeQuita:
Okay. And I do remember seeing when you got your first house.

Kit:
Yes, yes.

LeQuita:
I remember that. I know that was such an exciting time for you all.

Kit:
Absolutely. Yes. It was. Dr. Porter, and I remember you bought our first bath bombs, even though they may have been falling apart.

LeQuita:
I loved it. I loved it.

Kit:
You were all the way in Canada. [inaudible 00:20:11] Our first international client, so thank you.

LeQuita:
I loved what you were doing. I didn't know that, but that's even more special.

Kit:
That's so nice.

LeQuita:
I just love so much because you are truly expressing what it is we're called to do. And I felt some of that. It probably didn't seize me the way it did you in seminary, but certainly in seeing what you were doing and my history working with issues around sexual abuse with women, I thought, how perfect is this, that you're doing this in a very tangible way and walking alongside women and children and really families. They're in Iowa. All the way in Iowa.

Kit:
Yep. Iowa, and think about the Quad Cities where we go back and forth between the two states every day. So during the Great Black Migration families followed the Mississippi River and also the train tracks up to the Quad Cities and other places. And so my husband's family came down from Mississippi, came up from Mississippi. They heard that there were preschool jobs for Black women and that Black men could get jobs, that John Deere is here, the railroad is here. And so my father-in-law was able to get a job.

I think he worked on the railroad initially, so he was able to get a job, a middle-class job, and his mom became a preschool teacher. And so in this area, it's right along the Mississippi River, you're in Davenport, Iowa, and you cross the bridge, and then you're in Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. So we have a home in Rock Island, Illinois, for women and our production facility in Moline, Illinois. And then you just cross the bridge five minutes later, and we're in our café and our gift shop, and our community hub is in Davenport, Iowa. And we have a house in Davenport, Iowa. So we go back and forth literally between two states three times a day.

LeQuita:
Look at that.

Kit:
Yeah.

LeQuita:
That's your net there. [inaudible 00:22:32]. Can you share a story from either of the houses, either the people who have come through there, not obviously their personal information, but just share a story about that whole journey for someone who would be a part of Argrow's House?

Kit:
Yeah. Yeah. So I'll share a couple ladies I'm thinking about. One in particular just graduated from our residential program and she has a big interview tomorrow. We're so excited for her. But we had been working with her off and on. She has a history of domestic violence. Every month we have a therapist come in and do workshops on healthy dating and self-esteem and things of that nature, because oftentimes if you don't recognize certain things about yourself and relationship patterns, the cycle will continue. And so this particular client had been in our program, but she was doing well, but then she got into a relationship that actually ultimately was very abusive. And I remember her coming into Argrow's House talking about being strangled until she couldn't move anymore. And she had a very small child. So there was a lot of fear around losing custody of her one-year-old son at the time, and just a lot of fear there. And so we were able to talk to her about getting an order of protection, getting an attorney, making sure that she got out of that house, out of that situation so that her and her children could be safe, and then working to make sure that she had full custody of her son.

So though it was challenging and has been challenging, she was able to get out of that home, get into her own housing. She's an artist, so she doesn't make our bath and body products, but every place we go, every opportunity we have, she does a mural in every space that we have. We've been able to get several grants and other funding so that she can do art projects with our products and other things. So that allows her to bring in more income for her and her family. But a few years, that was maybe five years ago. Though she had a stable job, had gotten out of the situation, there were still some issues with still being in great fear of this person that she still had to communicate with.

And then for whatever reason, I realized that oftentimes our ladies, though they're out of the situation, for some reason, they always feel this need to move. And maybe it's because of fear. Maybe it's because of not being settled. Maybe it's because of finances. If you go through such a bad situation as it relates to domestic violence, it doesn't just impact you psychologically and emotionally. It also impacts you financially as well. So, many of our ladies are coming out of bankruptcy, and it impacted their credit. And so what we realized is that we needed to help not just women coming out of the shelter, but we also needed to help the women who we've been journeying with for years really be able to get on solid ground. And so what we started to do with our housing, and Nana, this particular client, she doesn't mind if I say her name, because she's so proud of where she is now.

And so she had been working with us for many years and we realized that how we need to use our homes is allowing women who've been in our program to live rent-free for a year to two years as we help them pay off their debts, as we help them with financial wellness coaching, as we help them with their therapies, with making sure their kids have the holistic care that they need. And then as we do that for those months, after 12 months to two years, we actually help them transition and purchase their own homes so that they have their forever home so that they're able to build wealth for their family so that they have these routines connected to their mental health and wellness moving forward. And so we do have a home where women can stay for temporary housing and for shelter, but for a couple of our spaces, we're able to allow women to be able to live as we really help them move forward in holistic care and also financial security through home ownership as well. So Nana just purchased her forever home five years later.

LeQuita:
How wonderful.

Kit:
She is well-established. When we talk about her former abuser, she says, "Who? I've moved forward. I'm good. I don't even think about him."

LeQuita:
That weight has been lifted. That's wonderful.

Kit:
I know. She's in a new, healthy relationship. She just applied for a city administrator job. And so her interview is tomorrow, and we're praying she gets that job, has a beautiful relationship with her younger children and her adult children. It's still a journey. I mean, healing is a journey. So sometimes we have triggers, sometimes things come up, and so many of our ladies continue to come to support groups long-term, we want to make sure that they have that support.

But it's amazing to see how five years ago, someone can come in great fear literally of their life, but by making sure that certain things legally, financially, emotionally, psychologically, are set up for that particular client long-term, if they choose, it has to be a choice by that woman and by that family. But when they do choose to commit, because it's hard work. It's hard work fighting through all of the mess. It's very difficult, but it's beautiful to see when they commit and what's on the other side of that. It's not even the other side of the healing journey, but what's on the other side as they fight ahead and find that purpose and find that light and joy and resources. Yeah.

LeQuita:
Well, it sounds like you all become family to them and you and the staff and everyone. And so there's a trust relationship that's developed there. You're helping people at their greatest time of need, I would say. And so I'm sure that goes a long way. And when I think about everything that I have learned about that you do, it's the two parts of it that I love so much. I think I saw it relative to your second book about overcoming challenges, that that's where you all come in and help, but also empowering people for their future. It's to move forward. It's like the second part of it that you just talked about. And that's what I think is so dynamic about what you're doing and critically important because there are two different stages, like you say, and it is challenging, but yet they're not doing it alone. God bless you for that. That truly is ministry. So what about, any other stories come to mind?

Kit:
Yeah, yeah. So one of our dear clients, she always makes me smile. She came, and when she came, she was literally still in a very abusive marriage, and she had immigrated here from another country, came here with expectations of the American Dream, and it ended up being a very violent, violent marriage. And she came to us as a volunteer. She had Googled Iowa domestic violence resources and Argrow's House came up.

And so she came and she just, at the time, we had our small house where she would literally, we did everything in the house. We had a small kitchen where we’d make our soaps upstairs. Women lived downstairs. We had a counseling room that had 2,000 [inaudible 00:31:31]. And so it was a very humble beginnings, but she started with us there, and she eventually got the courage to leave. We helped her get a very small apartment. She had two boys, a little tiny baby boy on her hip. He was maybe one years old. And then she had a four-year-old son. And so she had two small kids, no family here, fleeing an abusive relationship where the man had a lot of power in the community. And she just had the courage. And we gave her, I said, "Well, we will give you a job at Argrow's House."

And she came. She started making the most beautiful soap, most beautiful bath bombs, lotions. And so she worked with us full-time for a couple years, and then we realized that she really was a great cook, and she would make something called samosas. She's from Mozambique. And so her mom taught her how to make these amazing samosas because of the Indian influence there. And so she started a business where she would go down to the farmer's market and sell her samosas. And then something happened where a house came up. She was in this, it couldn't be any more than 400 square foot apartment, with her two boys, but a housing opportunity came up with a program here called Rejuvenate Housing that flips homes, and then they allow the home to be purchased at just the price that they put into the home. And so we had some community partners and volunteers.

We were able to get her, she purchased her first home, so were able, I think she has a four bedroom home, garage for her boys.

LeQuita:
That's wonderful.

Kit:
And later that year, because she had established a relationship with the bank, she was able to purchase a food truck. So now she has a food truck business and working on her catering business. And the boys are in private school now. She was able to get them scholarships.

LeQuita:
Oh my goodness.

Kit:
And this is four years later, and we're just incredibly proud of her. So though she still does her food truck business and working to expand, she still commits to being the product development manager coach here. So now she trains other women on how to make products when they're coming from the shelter and other programs. And so that's a beautiful story of a client that's very dear. All clients are very dear to us, but that client is very dear to us as well.

LeQuita:
And they're giving back to the others who come. How wonderful is that?

Kit:
And it's beautiful when that happens. It's beautiful to see. And when the women do get to a point where they're healthy and they're really connected and invested in community, that's really what they want to do. They're here to receive, but they also come to give. So we do have a couple of ambassadors who are graduates of the program, but they're still around, but they're our biggest referral. They refer women. They're always listening to women, they're talking in the community. It's just really beautiful to see where a lot of them have come from and how they're helping other women now.

LeQuita:
Well, I do know that you engage in a lot of collaboration for all of these services that you provide. Can you share a little bit about them?

Kit:
Yeah. Well, we can't... We're stronger together. As I get older, I realize that none of this work, even though sometimes it makes us feel good, it's hard work, but none of this, it's not about ego. It's about really helping to build up the kingdom of God and then also working together to serve the best that we can. And so we're stronger together, we're better together. We can serve more people together. And so in our new space, we were blessed to be able to purchase a strip mall a few weeks ago.

LeQuita:
[inaudible 00:35:51].

Kit:
I know, imagine that.

LeQuita
Congratulations again.

Kit:
Thank you, Jesus.

LeQuita:
Amen.

Kit:
So we've been renovating the space. We're almost there, but part of the new café and movie area. But we're creating a community hub, and we created a short documentary where we brought together all of the social enterprises in the region. So 180 works with women healing from addiction, and they have a cleaning business. And so we featured them. We have another organization that works with refugee women, and they have a community garden and hydroponics where they grow inside. We have another organization that works with people with disabilities, and they have a manufacturing company where they employ.

And so we've all come together to see how we can cross resources and assist each other and help each other even on the business side. But with the new strip mall area, we're able to have support groups here as well. One of the good things about where we are now, we're very close to several women's shelters where we can literally go and pick up, do outreach for support groups, things of that nature. And as it relates to mental health and different types of services, we're not able to be an expert in everything. And so we lean on our community partners tremendously as it relates to those referrals and being able to help each other in that way.

LeQuita:
Sounds wonderful. Sounds wonderful. So you also have an LLC, Autistic & Loved.

Kit:
Oh my goodness, yeah. Oh my goodness. Yeah, that's kind of my heartbeat of work. My son is autistic, my daughter is as well. My daughter, Imani is very high functioning. She's brilliant. She just has some social challenges, but she didn't speak until five and a half. My son is brilliant in his own unique way as well. He has super powers in his own unique way, but he does have level three autism. And so he speaks with a voice output device. He is nonverbal and he has something called sensory processing disorder.

And so when he was very young and even still, he has a desire to chew. And so I created, I partnered with engineers to invent a line of chewable jewelry that looked like my son and my daughter.

LeQuita:
Chewable jewelry.

Kit:
Chewable jewelry, they call it chewelry.

LeQuita:
Chewelry. I love that.

Kit:
So instead of children who have sensory challenges chewing on their arms or chewing on their shirts, we discovered chewable jewelry. But the thing is, my son, up until recently, would go to six to seven hours of therapy every single day, ABA therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. Now, thanks be to God, we were able to move, and he's in an elementary school that has an autism program, so he's doing really well, and I'm so proud of him.

But I would sit in these lines all throughout the day, and I would see all of these beautiful, beautiful children. And as someone who's a lover of culture and people and religion, I just thought that it would be great to invent something that looked like all of these diverse, beautiful children that they could chew on if they needed to. And so I had no idea about FDA-approved silicone, no idea about compression molding, no idea about all these things. But the engineering school here, Western Illinois University, they had a makerspace where people from the community could go and create things with engineers. And so I went and we made our first molds together. I am not an engineer, but I got a kind of informal certificate because I was in there learning about all these things.

LeQuita:
Oh my gosh.

Kit:
And we were able to create the first molds, and then after a hundred phone calls, I found a compression molding company that would take on my product, got a couple patents and created my own line of chewable jewelry. Now how this is morphed though, we are recently now, we have that LLC, which turned into, after talking to many autism families, we realized what we needed was convenience and being able to purchase these products, chewable jewelry, weighted muted headphones, weighted stuffed animals, fidgets and sensory toys, all these things that give our children and adults, helps them to relax and helps to relieve certain things if they're having some type of tension.

Even sensory friendly snacks that have a certain firmness that are helpful for children and adults with sensory processing disorder. And so I created a vending machine to put products in there. I had no idea how to create a vending machine, but I figured it out. And we got our first airport involved.

LeQuita:
[inaudible 00:41:36].

Kit:
So that morphed the LLC. That's where we are there with the LLC. But what came out of that, we had a small gift shop. Because we had Argrow's House, were able to lease a space that had a small gift shop in the back for Autistic & Loved as well. And so families would come in. But what we realized is that autism families not only needed chewable jewelry, they also needed a safe space to be able to have fun, to be able to cry when they needed to, parents to be able to get resources and support.

And so we started having these sensory-friendly events, like a sensory-friendly Santa event where we would have the lights down, soft music, and only one family could come at a time for 15 minutes to really just spend one-on-one time with Santa Claus. And we realized that some kids who have autism and possibly sensory challenges, this may have been the first time they were able to even see Santa Claus or see the Easter Bunny before because the mall and other places are just too stimulating and it's just so many people. And so we were able to do that and got a huge, huge turnout for those events. We turned the dressing rooms into two small sensory rooms at this location. And we saw how the kids would just get great joy in going to those rooms.

And so recently, just by the grace of God, we were gifted with a large gift to allow us to also create a foundation, the Autistic & Loved foundation, which allowed us to purchase a commercial space and purchase a handmade 2000 square foot sensory gym, a greenhouse…

LeQuita:
Wonderful.

Kit:
…a greenhouse, a sensory chill spa, and then a room where we can also have occupational therapy space with intentional activities there while also continuing to do the programming for parents [inaudible 00:43:58] and for children as well. And so we're only a few weeks in and that space is about to launch, but we've gotten a huge, people email every day and call. "Is the gym open? Is everything open? When are you opening?"

LeQuita:
Yeah. [inaudible 00:44:16].

Kit:
We're so excited. We're so excited. It's such a joyful place and what a privilege that God has gifted us with to have the resources to create something for children and families with autism. Our ultimate goal is to be able to employ autistic young adults in this space, and also with the vending machine company. And so it is dear to my heart because my son will always have a place where he feels like, and he knows he belongs, and he'll never be ashamed of who he is. Though our families, our children, our loved ones may have autism or special needs, it doesn't make them inferior. And I actually believe it makes them have superpowers.

LeQuita:
I love that.

Kit:
And it can be challenging, it can be challenging, but there's also so much beauty and so much good within our loved ones who have autism. And so we just wanted to create a safe space to celebrate and affirm that and to give opportunities. And so my little chewable jewelry evolved into this beautiful, beautiful mission. So both of the spaces, they're right next to each other now in the strip mall space. We also are landlords now to the Center for Behavioral Health who works with people healing from addiction. So yeah, we would love for you all to come to Davenport, Iowa, 3811 Harrison Street, Davenport, or you can always go on argrowshouse.org or autisticanloved.com [sic] to check out what we're up to.

LeQuita:
So much, so much happening. And you also were recently in Saint Kitts, which is a place where you lived a number of years ago and worked, and you're doing some work there.

Kit:
Absolutely. I'm so incredibly grateful, I was given a recent award that allowed me to gift the organization that I founded with resources to develop our social enterprises, purchase commercial property. But I was also gifted resources to be able to assist a few other organizations. So one is in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It's a very small island in the Eastern Caribbean. And so there is a need for resources for children who are nonverbal or who have speech delays on the island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. And so in America, we have access to programs called Picture Exchange Communication System, which is a system that assists children and adults through pictures to be able to communicate so that they are empowered and that they have their words. In the school system in America, a child can have an IEP that says they are able to have augmented communication devices, AAC devices, that allows them to actually speak through a voice device.

And teachers, hopefully the school district teaches those teachers how to assist the child with understanding how to navigate that voice device. And so the school district purchases those devices to rent out to the child until they're 12th grade. On the island of Saint Kitts and Nevis, none of those programs are there. And so we're working with professors from Augustana College where I live here in the Quad Cities and others who are experts in AAC devices and PECs to be able to, and then me as an autism mom of a nonverbal child, or actually of a child who has beautiful words, but who's currently nonverbal, but he speaks through his device and we use his device. We say these are his words. And so we're able to gift the Saint Kitts Spectrum Resource Center to be able to train the whole island, teachers and parents, on how to use these devices.

And then also being able to get donations so that we could have as many augmented communication devices. Really what the augmented communication, it's an iPad. It's an iPad where we download, there's programs called Proloquo2Go. My son uses TouchChat HD. There are a few other ones that are popular within the school system here that are helpful, but we take iPads. So if you have an iPad you're not using, please email us at autisticandloved@gmail.com because we will use it to download the program for children to be able to speak. And it's just nice for a child to have the option or an adult to have the option to be able to use their voice, even though they may not speak like us, there are opportunities for them to be able to still use their voice. And you can do that through PEC augmented communication for sure.

LeQuita:
So as I listen to so much that you're doing, and there's still much more, I'm curious how you would describe God's call on your life. This is for the person who may have just seen a traditional type of call. You talked earlier about ordination and that whole path and what it looks like, but there's someone else who is yearning for more. And it sounds like you've captured that, but how would you describe God's call on your life?

Kit:
God's call on my life. Well, I pray “God of love, God of peace” every time I pray before I pray. And I really do believe that God sees me as precious, fearfully and wonderfully made, precious in God's sight. And so my call is connected to God and the love of God, and sharing the love of God in different ways. I think for me as a social entrepreneur, I think God has gifted me with creativity to be able to use that creativity to create things that also serve marginalized populations. And for me, those marginalized populations are connected to communities and individuals that I care deeply about. For me, God has taken things that could have hurt me or things that could have possibly killed me. For example, with Argrow's House, I talked about my grandmother, but I also became a survivor of an extremely violent sexual assault when I was in the Peace Corps.

And so part of me healing and moving forward was accepting my call to ministry and using that pain to be able to do good. Same thing with autism. When both of my children were diagnosed with autism, I went to school in Berkeley. My husband went to Harvard. So for us, it was very complex and it was very difficult to wrestle with that and accept that. But once I did, I realized that, okay, this pain and understanding this reality, we can use this in ministry to bless others. And how do I do that? How do I use that to really help to serve where a need is and also help to build up the kingdom of God and to show Jesus that I love him and to show people in the community that the love of God can be shared in this way?

And so how I see the call, I mean, it could be painful. The call can be painful. The call can also, what do I say, beauty in the ashes. It can also be very beautiful. The call can be very tiring. The call can be joyful. But I think when you really listen to God, when you give yourself permission to think outside of the box as it relates to ministry, and when you really listen to what your soul is calling you to do, I think that you're able to really walk into your own unique call and your own unique, fearfully and wonderfully made self.

LeQuita:
Amen. Amen.

Kit:
Amen.

LeQuita:
Amen. Amen. That's beautiful. So what's on the horizon for Dr. Kit?

Kit:
Oh, my goodness. Well…

LeQuita:
Not to sound like someone who's living in the past.

Kit:
Well, we have to have you here for a cup of coffee in this café in the coming [inaudible 00:53:37].

LeQuita:
Oh, I'd love to.

Kit:
We would love that. We have to see.

LeQuita:
We will make that happen.

Kit:
Yeah, we would love that. I have to come visit you in Florida too, now that I know you're in Florida. But what's on the horizon with the new strip mall, moving forward with the new café and also the gift shop and the community space, but really we are working to provide more structure to the bath and body social enterprise so that it's more of a workforce development program, so that when the ladies come in, there's more structured intention and helping them with skills development, assisting them with their mental health, but then also helping them with intention, transition into careers that they're passionate about, connected to full-time gainful employment for them. And so we have different tracks now as it relates to, and community partners.

So there's highway construction, there's cosmetology, there's administrative assistant, there's medical assistant, just really assisting our ladies in really allowing Argrow's House to help set them up for long-term success as it relates to our workforce development. So that's a shift. Also with our housing model, we've been blessed to purchase another home, which we're excited about, but we're excited to continue the structured programming around financial wellness, psychological support, but ultimately helping our ladies get into their own homes. That's something that we really take pride in, and we find it as something that really gets our ladies on solid ground. When they're able to be financially stable, when they have the stability as it relates to their emotional and psychological health, but when they're able to have their own home, I mean, it's a game changer.

LeQuita:
It's a game changer.

Kit:
It's a game changer for their confidence, for their self-worth, for their financial accountability, and even thinking about their family for generations.

They're talking about their children and their grandchildren having a place to come for the holidays or just a place to come as it relates to just stability. It's just a huge thing. So we want to continue to strengthen that program. Right now, we work with, on the Iowa side, an organization called Rejuvenate Housing, and they flip homes. They take abandoned homes, and they flip those homes so that those homes are brand new when our ladies move into them. And so we have a formal partnership with them on the Iowa side. Our ladies have gotten two of those three homes, and we want to keep that. So they call us before they even list the home to see if any of our ladies are ready, which is a blessing. So we have to develop those same relationships on the Illinois side.

As it relates to Autistic & Loved, when you go into the sensory gym and the sensory chill spot and this greenhouse, and it's just so much joy. I know I have a lot to learn. I do have a master's degree in special education, and my son has autism, and I have experience working with people with special needs. So I still have a lot to learn, but when you enter this space, it's just so much joy. And so I'm just excited that my son has a place to grow up and so many other children. I just think it's going to be a blessing, Autistic & Loved, as it continues to grow.

LeQuita Porter:
You've been listening to The Distillery at Princeton Theological Seminary. Interviews are conducted by me, LeQuita Porter, and Shari Oosting. Our producer is Garrett Mostowski. If you like what you're hearing, and we hope you do, subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app, and you can hear many other interesting discussions. And while you're at it, leave us a review and let us know how we're doing. The Distillery is a production of the Office of Continuing Education at Princeton Theological Seminary. Find out more at thedistillery.ptsem.edu. Until next time, thanks for listening.