is throwing a party in Castle Rock and everyone is invited.
The faith-based nonprofit — dedicated to providing work, education and enrichment opportunities to empower adults with special needs — is holding its annual Summer Celebration at on Friday night. The celebration features musical and dance performances, food trucks, art and baked goods made by Wellspring’s own special needs clients, known as “stars.”
says a free party is the least the 9-year-old nonprofit can do to thank the generous community that has nurtured it and the people it serves.
Fenton’s daughter, Emily, has a genetic syndrome that limits her cognition and impacts her judgment and processing skills. Her parents know that Emily, 25, can never live alone. It was her long-term health and happiness that sparked Fenton to found Wellspring in January 2008.
“It probably started when the reality hit me and my husband: ‘Oh my gosh. Whatap she going to do after high school?’” Fenton said. “What was life going to look like for her?”
Inspired by a Texas nonprofit, Fenton began baking cookies in her kitchen once a week with Emily and a few friends with special needs, giving each of them a station and responsibilities. The girls loved it. Word got out, and pretty soon Fenton and crews of bakers were making cookies in three kitchens, and Wellspring was born.
It wasn’t long before the Castle Rock community noticed Wellspring and began supporting Fenton’s efforts. In early 2009, New Hope Presbyterian Church offered Wellspring a meeting room and use of its commercial kitchen. Fenton launched a weekly program there. Participants baked in the morning and attended enrichment classes in the afternoon. Then, opened its doors to Wellspring, which allowed the organization to expand. When Castle Oaks moved into a new building at 826 Park St. in 2013, it did so with a $50,000 contribution from its co-tenant, Wellspring. That money went toward construction of a commercial bakery, now home to the first of several business enterprises the nonprofit has launched to provide opportunities and job skills to its stars. Best Buddies Bakery makes breads and sweets that are sold across Douglas County, including at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital, Sky Ridge Medical Center and Duke’s Steakhouse in Castle Pines.
Fast forward to 2017, and Wellspring is thriving. Seventy-two stars from Douglas and neighboring counties attend Wellspring programs. In addition to the bakery, it operates a budding gardening program with 12 raised beds and a plot at . Wellspring is working with the to expand that program. Stars grew plants from seed in a greenhouse this year and they’re selling produce this summer at a small farmers market on Monday mornings.
Stars also create art from clay and wood in the nonprofit’s ArtBeat Studio, housed in a historic home on Perry Street in downtown Castle Rock. The owners of that space reached out to Wellspring about using it, Fenton said.
The stars’ artwork is offered for sale across the street at . Greg Boman, who owns the eclectic shop, and his family have a deep relationship with Wellspring. His wife, Becky Boman, teaches knitting at Wellspring twice a week. The couple converted a former tea room and patio space at the rear of the Emporium into Wellspring’s Best Buddies Bakery & Cafe after learning that Fenton dreamed of opening an eatery where stars could work. The Bomans rent the space to Wellspring for $1 a year. Stars work in the dining area of the breakfast and lunch eatery, which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“You can’t leave there and be upset,” Boman said of the cafe. “The stars just won’t let you. We just love them.”
Wellspring supporter Kathy Gibbons will also join the party in Miller Park on Friday. She and her son, Jeff, were introduced to the organization at Wellspring’s Summer Celebration several years ago. Jeff, 32, has Down syndrome and doesn’t like change, his mom said. But she could tell he immediately felt comfortable with the people he met at the Summer Celebration. He now goes to Wellspring three days a week, working in the garden and taking a class to prepare him for work in the cafe. His favorite Wellspring activity is the crossfit class led by volunteer instructors from , his mom said.
“We all need community. We all need friends. We all need to feel like we belong,” Gibbons said. “I think thatap why Jeff likes Wellspring. He feels like he’s part of the community, and people accept him for who he is and like him. He knows he’s accepted there.”
Gibbons and her husband are among many in the community who look forward to the realization of another of Wellspring’s goals: long-term housing for adults with special needs. There are no definite plans for what that housing will look like or how it will be funded. (Wellspring collects tuition, but relies on donations and grants to operate.) Fenton has faith an opportunity will present itself, perhaps through Wellspring’s network of roughly 150 talented and dedicated volunteers. Perhaps through the community’s seemingly endless generosity. The last nine years suggest itap only a matter of time.
“Itap a miracle. What has transpired here is nothing short of a miracle,” Fenton said of Wellspring’s growth and metamorphosis. “Just like everything else that has come to us, I’m waiting for someone to call.”
If you go
What: Wellspring Community presents the Summer Celebration at the MAC
When: 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday. Performances begin at 6:30 p.m.
Where: The amphitheater at the Miller Activity Complex, 1375 W. Plum Creak Parkway, Castle Rock
Dz:Free
Updated July 27, 2017, at 9:56 a.m. Because of an error by the reporter, the details of Wellspring’s agreement with the owners of the ArtBeat Studio house on Perry Street were incorrect in the original posting of this story.